Here are a variety of books on Bastille Day, covering its history, symbolism, and its place in French culture, politics, and revolutionary history:
Sections
4
Books on Bastille Day and the further French revolution
Cultural Memory, Public Ritual, and Art
Global Influence and Interpretations
Fiction
Books on Bastille Day and the further French revolution
Includes an accessible and well-illustrated chapter on the fall of the Bastille and how July 14th became a national symbol.
The Days of the French Revolution: Quill
A rich, detailed account with gripping narrative; covers the Bastille’s storming as a political and cultural rupture
Citizens: A Chronicle Of The French Revolution
Thorough academic history that centers Bastille Day as the emotional ignition point of revolutionary transformation
Liberty or Death: The French Revolution
Focuses on the role of ordinary people—especially during events like the storming of the Bastille.
Crowd in the French Revolution
Cultural Memory, Public Ritual, and Art
Explores how the Bastille became a potent symbol in French memory, art, and politics.
The Bastille: History of a Symbol of Despotism
Classic work on how the Revolution, including Bastille Day, was expressed in festivals and symbols.
Festivals & the French Revolution
Features the Bastille’s cultural and symbolic role in shaping revolutionary Paris
The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps
While focused on a later period, this book traces how French collective memory, especially around revolution and national holidays, was ritualized through public commemoration, monuments, and national myth.
The Construction of Memory in Interwar France
Global Influence and Interpretations
Includes Bastille Day as a key emblem of revolutionary change worldwide.
Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction
Looks at Bastille Day in the context of global revolutionary ripples—especially in Europe and Latin America
The Age Of Revolution: 1789-1848
Includes discussions on how the storming of the Bastille was represented or emulated in different independence struggles.
The French Revolution in Global Perspective
Examines how revolutionary ideals, such as those represented by Bastille Day, spread to Enlightenment thinkers and rebels worldwide, especially Latin American revolutionaries and early socialists.
Revolutionary Ideas: Intellectual History of French Revolution
Fiction
Although set in England and France, it includes dramatic portrayals of the Bastille and the emotional climate of the time.
A Tale of Two Cities
Hugo’s final novel—a dramatic tribute to revolutionary fervor and the clash of ideals surrounding events like Bastille Day.
Ninety-Three: A New Translation
Offers a personal, emotional view of Bastille Day from inside Versailles.
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
Set against the backdrop of the Bastille’s fall and its political aftershocks.
