Tackett's When The King Took Flight

The reasons and the consequences of the French revolution has been one of the topics which most of historians, philosophers and analysts have tended to maintain a deep understanding. The very 21st century book on French revolution would be Tackett’ book when the King Took Flight. Tackett as one the America’s best historian most of his works tends to concentrate on French Revolution as his specific area. In 2003, he published his book of When the King Took Flight, which becomes one of the most read and reviewed books around the world. At the same time, his writing (he is the author of ten books) have always described as well written and well analyzed. The tittle of Tackett’ book when the King Took Flight in itself supposed to maintain

“No less than the people of Varennes and Sainte-Menehould, they suspected that the flight had been coordinated with a planned foreign invasion to end the Revolution by force. Thus the Assembly took steps to prepare the nation for war.” (p. 128) According to Tackett there were different opinions among the Assembly’s members on decision of the future of the King. “In their first reactions of shock and betrayal, a surprising number of deputies had been prepared to eject Louis from the government altogether and replace him with a regency or even a republic.” (P.131) in other hand aristocratic and conservatives asked to let the King be rehired based on a parliamentary decision. At the same time, there was a group who asked for trailing the King. Most importantly, the people’s deep feeling attachment for the King now was changed into the feeling of being betrayed by their “father”. Tackett in his book examines the fact that the massacre at the Champ de Mars was as the consequence of the King’s flight. Furthermore, he shows that the King’s flight was psychologically catastrophic and the event broke the promise among Louis and his people. “It was one of those events with such a powerful emotional impact that people would remember all their lives where they had been and what they had been doing when they were first informed In this sense, the weeks following the flight to Varennes marked an anticipation, a prefiguration of both the psychology and the procedures of the Terror.” (pp.