The French Revolution of 1789 represents a crucial moment in the birth of the modern world. Its politics and ideas inspired widespread upheaval throughout Europe and especially in France itself where it marked the beginning of a century of turmoil. Napoleonic dictatorship, monarchical Resotoration, Second Republic, and Second Empire all rapidly succeeded each other but it was with the advent of the Third Republic in the 1870s that political stability began to accompany liberty and equality. In this volume, one of the first to look at 'Revolutionary France' as a whole, a team of leading international historians explore the major issues of politics and society, culture, economics, and overseas expansion during this vital period of French history.