Louis Blanc (1811-82) was a French historian and politician whose writings had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. In his famous Organisation du travail (1839) he called for social reform by action of the State. As a member of the provisional government established after the 1848 Revolution, he campaigned for workers' rights, advocating the creation of cooperative workshops. His twelve-volume Histoire de la Revolution Francaise (1847-62), most of which he wrote while in exile in England, combines years of thorough research with Blanc's characteristic socialist and republican enthusiasm. Volume 1, first published in 1847, traces the intellectual origins of the French Revolution to the development of individualism, first in Protestantism, and then in the Enlightenment. It spans four centuries, from the origins of Protestantism with the Czech priest Jan Hus, to the reign of Louis XIV, to the political philosophies of Voltaire and Montesquieu.

Louis Blanc (1811-82) was a French historian and politician whose writings had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. In his famous Organisation du travail (1839) he called for social reform by action of the State, an unusual position at the time. As a member of the provisional government established after the 1848 Revolution, he campaigned for workers' rights, advocating the creation of cooperative workshops. His twelve-volume Histoire de la Revolution Francaise (1847-62), most of which he wrote while in exile in England, combines years of thorough research with Blanc's characteristic socialist and republican enthusiasm. Volume 2, published in 1847, opens with an overview of French society under Louis XVI. It shows how the financial crisis led to popular unrest, and focuses on the main events of the year 1789, from the Estates-General to the storming of the Bastille and the abolition of feudalism.

Louis Blanc (1811-82) was a French historian and politician whose writings had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. In his famous Organisation du travail (1839) he called for social reform by action of the State, an unusual position at the time. As a member of the provisional government established after the 1848 Revolution, he campaigned for workers' rights, advocating the creation of cooperative workshops. His twelve-volume Histoire de la Revolution Francaise (1847-62), most of which he wrote while in exile in England, combines years of thorough research with Blanc's characteristic socialist and republican enthusiasm. Volume 3, first published in 1864, focuses on the immediate aftermath of the abolition of feudalism by the National Constituent Assembly. It describes the Women's March on Versailles, which took place in October 1789, and the subsequent forced relocation of Louis XVI to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

Louis Blanc (1811-82) was a French historian and politician whose writings had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. In his famous Organisation du travail (1839) he called for social reform by action of the State, an unusual position at the time. As a member of the provisional government established after the 1848 Revolution, he campaigned for workers' rights, advocating the creation of cooperative workshops. His twelve-volume Histoire de la Revolution Francaise (1847-62), most of which he wrote while in exile in England, combines years of thorough research with Blanc's characteristic socialist and republican enthusiasm. Volume 4, first published in 1852, focuses on the administrative reorganisation of France from 1790. It includes details on the new status of the clergy, who had been turned into employees of the state by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy passed on 12 July 1790.