*Illustrated
*Includes Table of Contents
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French critic and historian. He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism, and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate with him. Taine is particularly remembered for his three-pronged approach to the contextual study of a work of art, based on the aspects of what he called "race, milieu, and moment".
Taine wrote a gigantic 6 volume history of the development of modern France called The Origins of Contemporary France. Volume I covered the Ancient Regime, the aristocratic classes and kings that ruled France until the late 18th century. Volumes II-IV covered the French Revolution, one of the most important social revolutions in history. Finally, Volumes V-VI covered the aftermath of the French Revolution, which saw the rise of Napoleon, the Restoration after Waterloo, and ultimately the Modern Regime.
This edition of Taine’s The Origins of Contemporary France is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and includes pictures of important people and events.
