This ... collection of [over 105] primary sources illustrates the political, cultural, and social diversity of the French Revolutionary period from the Old Regime to the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. A variety of perspectives exposes students firsthand to the events and impact of the French Revolution. The voices of philosophers and legislators are presented alongside those of sans-culottes; the histories of women, peasants, and the free blacks and slaves of Saint Domingue are represented, as are the testimonies of revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries alike. Documents range from political pamphlets, decrees by legislative bodies, and police reports to popular petitions from the countryside and popular literature from the period. Short narrative histories ... provid[e] students with a context in which to evaluate the documents. [This book is intended] for courses on the French Revolution or for a range of courses on European history ... -Back cover.