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Vive La Revolution (Paperback)

by Mark Steel (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 299 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (14 Jul 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743208056
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743208055
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 464,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads in a crisis, and humorist Mark Steel explains how such a thing can easily happen to the best of us. In what must rank as one of the funniest books of the year, Steel looks at the French Revolution in a way guaranteed to turn today's aristocracy purple with rage. It is history with a Marxist twist - but this Marxism is more of the Groucho variety than the Karl. As in all Steel's writings, both for the Independent and in his previous books Life is not a Runner Bean and Reasons to be Cheerful, there is a serious theme - in this case the uprising that led to the French republic. But history was never taught this way at school. It is a rip-roaring Pythonesque view of things, full of one-liners that will have you laughing out loud. In discussing revolution leader Jean Paul Marat, Steel shows how the less-than-handsome fellow was vilified not so much for what he did politically, but for being ugly which compounded his sins. 'Not only did this bloke lead a revolution, he was a veritable human zoo,' Steel declares. 'If he hadn't been so busy he'd have ended up on the working-men's-club circuit as "the Amazing Beast man, impersonating every creature on the evolutionary scale from crow to toad to horse-leech".' Steel's own first lessons about the Establishment view of the French Revolution came from the TV show Blue Peter, which drummed into children the idea that standing up for equality was somehow Not To Be Tolerated. 'I can't quite recall what followed,' he goes on, 'though presumably someone showed you how to make your own guillotine using a shoebox, an elastic band and a Stanley knife.' You doubt he can keep up this sort of stuff for the length of a book, but he does - and what's more he does it without reducing history to farce. A truly entertaining book, and instructive with it. Not to be missed. (Kirkus UK)


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'A great read. Smart, comic non-fiction is clearly the future' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
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4.2 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, informative and funny...., 17 Feb 2005
By Richard P. Bentall (Bangor, Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Vive La Revolution (Paperback)
Mark Steel's book manages the difficult trick of being both highly informative (he convincingly explains the importance of the French Revolution in shaping the modern world) and also very funny (on many occasions I found myself laughing out loud). While telling the story, he takes on conventional historians for their dubious assumptions about the causes of events. (Discussing those, especially Sharma, who seem to believe that the whole thing was caused by the agitation of a few thousand zealots, he observes: 'Revolutionary action does usually involve a committed minority, but that applies to state-led action as well. The difference is that then the minority become official heros. After the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill didn't say, "Oh typical, just a handful of activists with big mouths and Spitfires."')
With amusing and sometimes self-depreciating anecdotes about his experiences in various left wing groups, this is definitely a good read. My only criticism is that some of the analogies he makes with modern events are so specific to the UK in the early 2000s, that readers from other parts of the world, or ten years hence, are bound to miss some of the jokes. Highly recommended for anyone who is a victim of modern historical education, and wants to know what the Revolution was really about.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Steel's sharper than scharma, 25 Mar 2004
By Arkady Hughes "mr hughes" (bolton) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Simon scharma this ain't. Thank god. Anyone who wants to understand our history (if we don't we can never understand our present) and anyone who likes comedy with a left leaning (mark Thomas, Bill Hicks, et al) will love this book. The intro alone encapsulates why history is seen as dry and dusty by a vast majority of the population, crusty teachers teaching facts by rote, TV programmes reaffirming airbrushed portraits of the past, Oxbridge educated TV historians benevolently patronising us mere mortals with their evident wealth of knowledge, Channel 5 'documentary' series discussing the sexual proclivities of various royals throughout history with re-enactments by out of work would be Ian McKellans. Steel overuses the device of analogies in the present: "that's like Tony Blair saying..." but most of the punch lines are so funny you forgive him this. Most importantly, I learnt a lot, I was vastly entertained and he's convinced me that a terrible wrong has been done to la revolution. As the blurb and reviewers say anyone who has ever been on a demo knows how authorities and the media distort the image and the message. We're living this in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and here in the UK and US so the book has extra resonance for our times.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars If only all history books were as easy to read, 14 Jan 2004
A very enjoyable and accessible book on the French Revolution. Definitely worth a look for anyone remotely interested in this subject.

Mark Steel describes the events of, and motivations behind, the Revolution very well. He illustrates neatly how the demonisation of key players happened and still persists today, and shatters the myths convincingly. He certainly convinced me that this was one of the most important revolutions in history.

Throughout the book, there are funny asides, comparing past events to present. Many of these are genuinely humourous, however, I felt that at times they were unnecessary because the events had been well described and more or less spoke for themselves. doesn't he trust the reader to get it?

I also felt that some of his observations were too 'modern' and may cause the book to date quickly, which would be a shame since his book really does go a long way to challenge prevailing views on the revolution.

I look forward to Mark's next historical outing, and if anyone is studying, or wants to study, the French Revolution, this is a good place to start.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Lighten up! It's only History/Humour/Polemic....
Oh dear! the last reviewer seems to have had a sense of humour bypass - common among those on the political right, I find. Read more
Published 13 months ago by PaulB

1.0 out of 5 stars Ideologically Motivated Rubbish
Mark Steel, tedious media lefty bigmouth and unfunny "comedian", has written a marvelous history book aimed at stupid people. Read more
Published 23 months ago by cousineerie

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious and informative, but not entirely accurate.
It's tempting to reiterate what many reviewers have said before me - this is a very funny and informative history of the revolution. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2007 by Xue Baochai

4.0 out of 5 stars A history book I read till the end!
I buy a lot of non-fiction books that sit on my shelves looking interesting but going unread, or that I start and then drift away from. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2007 by RR

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this and rekindle your enthusiasm for history.
The study of history is important because it places modern day events in context and allows us to make better judgements. Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2006 by GJ Parnell

5.0 out of 5 stars A very, very funny look at the French Revolution.
Mark Thomas is unashamedly left wing, and the main reason for his writing this book was that he wants to right a perceived wrong - he wants to tell the readers why he thinks that... Read more
Published on 11 April 2006 by Simon Grayson

4.0 out of 5 stars This should be an underground set text
Any fan of Mark Steel's superb lectures on radio 4 will know exactly what they hope to get from this book - and they get it in spades. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2006 by Nigel Collier

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent balance of comedy and politics
I bought this book not because I would claim to have had any prior interested in the French Revolution- I didn't- but because it was Mark Steel, who I know of because of his TV... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2004 by Mr. Stuart Bruce

4.0 out of 5 stars More of the same please
I have just returned from my annual holiday in France where reading this book greatly enhanced my enjoyment of that intriguing country. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2003 by Anthony Powell

4.0 out of 5 stars Steady now, it's only good.
Mark Steel has written a funny book that will appeal to people whoare genuinely intereted in learning about the French revolution. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2003 by Steven

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