An intimate history of an ordinary Parisian citizen and his neighbors that reflects on the origins and radicalization of the French Revolution. What was it like to live through one of the most transformational periods in world history? In The Glory and the Sorrow, eminent historian Timothy Tackett answers this question through a masterful recreation of the world of Adrien Colson, a minor lawyer who lived in Paris at the end of the Old Regime and during the first eight years of the French Revolution. Based on over a thousand letters written by Colson to his closest friend, this book vividly narrates everyday life for an "ordinary citizen" during extraordinary times, as well as the life of a neighborhood on a small street in central Paris. It explores the real, day-to-day experience of a revolution: not only the thrill, the joy, and the enthusiasm, but also the uncertainty, the confusion, the anxiety, and the disappointments. While Colson reported on major events such as the storming of the Bastille and the King's flight to Varennes, his correspondence underscores the extent to which the great majority of Parisians--and no doubt of the French population more generally--in no way anticipated the Revolution; the incessant circulation and power of rumors of impending disasters in Paris, not just in the summer of 1789 but continually from the autumn of 1789 throughout the Revolutionary decade; and how this affected popular psychology and behavior. In doing so, this account demonstrates how a Parisian and his neighbors were radicalized over the course of the Revolution. An evocative account of Colson's time and place, The Glory and the Sorrow is a compelling microhistory of Revolutionary France. "This fine book emphasises and dramatizes complexity and contingency in the lives of the capital and its residents. It reminds us how such quotidian topics as cnanine leashes, tenants leases, and urban gossip can open windows into another place and time." -- Jeffrey Merrick, New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century "A fascinating and tantalizing volume...that can be read with pleasure and recognition...by any scholar of the late Eighteenth century and its turbulent social and political histories." -- David Andress, French History " The Glory and the Sorrow is a stunning account that integrates a lifetime of research, knowledge, and deep understanding of one's historical actors. It wrestles with enduring questions regarding the local nature of popular activism and the political radicalization of most Parisians. It is a masterclass in animating history as experience, and it will be a gift for generations of scholars and students to come." -- Katie Jarvis, H-France Forum "There are many reasons why Tim Tackett's contribution to our knowledge of the French Revolution commands such attention, but...one aspect in particular...[is its] place...in scholarship on emotions in the Revolution....While The Glory and the Sorrow centres on the life of one man, our understanding of his experience of the Revolution is couched very much in terms of his profound and shifting emotions―from the dizzying heights of 1789...to the 'sorrow' of 1794, as the intense expectations of the early years foundered against the crashing impact of war, betrayal and fear. Tim's unfolding of the events of the Revolution through the emotional registers of one man, offer us, as readers in the twenty-first century a way into understanding what the Revolution meant for the generation that lived through it....We must be grateful that...Colson's letters remain to us as a window on a tumultuous time in world history." -- Marisa Linton, H-France Forum "Evocative and engaging.... Colson's own experience reveals the state of tension that existed throughout the revolutionary years, between inspiration and hope for a better future on the one hand, and anxiety, desperation and sheer terror on the other. This was not helped by the swirl of rumour and speculation that enveloped the political conversations among Colson's neighbours and friends. Yet it is equally clear that Colson worked hard to disentangle reliable from misleading and downright false information. This may have been because as a lawyer he was especially well-equipped to examine the evidence critically...but it is none the less a reminder to historians that just because a rumour was recorded, it did not mean that everyone credulously believed it. It also holds up a mirror to our own age, enveloped as it is in fake news, misinformation and gossip, no less than was Colson's world." -- Michael Rapport, H-France Forum "In The Glory and the Sorrow , Tackett's lively depiction of the initial years of the Revolution challenges us all to match the vivacity and rigor of his analysis and apply them to the entire Revolutionary era....Tackett has painted a detailed portrait of how a small-time, single lawyer from a small, frontier town lived quietly in Paris until the shocks of 1789 transformed his