The seminal book on this topic is by British historian Simon Schama. Here he offers one the definitive account of the French Revolution. More than likely too heavy to take on the beach for your summer holidays, and too dense to be read whilst taking notes, this is a book that best sits on the side of the desk for digesting chapter-by-chapter for the broadest narrative and some interesting analysis. Purchase here.
Politicians just ain't as good as they used to be. Ever feel this way? Maximillian Robespierre will compound and challenge your view all at the same time. Potentially the most interesting revolutionary figure (whose time of dominance of the Committee for Public Safety brought in the 'Reign of Terror') his time of authority went from the aforementioned bloodiness of the terror to the bizarre attempt to create his own pagan religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being. To think it all ended with an attempted suicide (in which he managed only to shatter his own jaw with a pistol) before he was guillotined without trial. Purchase here.
Edmund Burke was the founder of modern conservative ideology (which would later be applied to the party, the founding of which in its modern form is attributed to Robert Peel). It is fitting, therefore, that he wrote a book about the management of change. Few times were so fitting for such a book to be written - France was in revolution, America had revolted and formed an independent nation and the industrial revolution had brought about significant change in Britain itself. Reflections on the Revolution in France remains a classic of British political philosophy. Purchase here.
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