3 podcasts about the French Revolution to listen to right now
What have you always wanted to know about the French Revolution? Here, we've selected a trio of the best podcasts about the overthrow of the French monarchy from our archive that you can listen to for free right now…
The French Revolution: Everything you need to know
If you’re looking for an introduction to the French Revolution, this episode from our ‘Everything you wanted to know’ series is a good place to start. Professor Marisa Linton responds to listener questions and internet search queries on the key issues surrounding the blood-soaked events in late 18th-century France. She discusses the causes and consequences of the Revolution, looking at the roles played by key individuals and the impact on ordinary French people.
Marie Antoinette
Doomed queen Marie Antoinette is one of the most instantly recognisable figures of the French Revolution, but much of what we think we know about her is in fact myth – including the 'fact' she purportedly said "let them eat cake". In this podcast, biographer John Hardman unpicks slander from reality – reconstructing the queen’s life, from her role in court politics to her grisly fate at the hands of the revolutionaries.
The failings of the French Revolution
What do we get wrong about the French Revolution? In this podcast from 2018, Stephen Clarke, author of The French Revolution and What Went Wrong, offers a myth-busting account of events, revealing a much more murky and complex reality than the story that is usually remembered.
What to read more about the French Revolution? Here are some of our most popular articles
- What caused the French Revolution?
- Robespierre: who was he, what did he do in the revolution, and was he a scapegoat for equally guilty men?
- The Reign of Terror: how the architects of the bloodletting that swept Paris after the French Revolution ended up among its victims
- Did the French invent the guillotine?
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