{"id":3139,"date":"2026-05-20T12:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fox.withemes.com\/classic\/?p=51"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T23:09:32","slug":"travel-post-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eurolit.net\/?p=3139","title":{"rendered":"Review: What Rhymes with Bastille? by Stephen Clarke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the word that launched a thousand riots, birthed a republic, and gave the French an annual excuse to set off fireworks. But what <em>really<\/em> happened on that fateful July day in 1789?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <strong><em>What Rhymes with Bastille?<\/em><\/strong>, Stephen Clarke untangles the romanticised legend from the chaotic reality. Armed with his trademark humor, meticulous research, and an endless supply of healthy skepticism, Clarke dives back into the national archives to look at the larger-than-life characters, the spectacular misfires, and the bizarre historical coincidences of the French Revolution. He uncovers what went wrong, what was completely made up, and why France&#8217;s national obsession with liberty, equality, and fraternity didn&#8217;t quite appear overnight like magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An unmissable, hilarious, and deeply insightful read for history buffs and Francophiles alike, this book proves that while history is written by the victors, it is best thoroughly picked apart by an Englishman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the Sunday Times bestselling author of 1000 Years of Annoying the French and A Year in the Merde, Stephen Clarke returns with another brilliantly witty side-swipe at history&#8217;s greatest myths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[11,59,51,60,12],"tags":[17,19,36],"ppma_author":[577],"class_list":["post-3139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book","category-france","category-review","category-stephen-clarke","category-yore","tag-amazing","tag-backpack","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.4 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the Sunday Times bestselling author of 1000 Years of Annoying the French and A Year in the Merde, Stephen Clarke returns with another brilliantly witty side-swipe at history&#039;s greatest myths.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eurolit.net\/?p=3139\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.4\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EuroLit - The Continent, in English\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: What Rhymes with Bastille? 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