IMAGING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The University of California and George Mason University have teamed up to produce an entertaining and comprehensive website focused on the French Revolution. Imaging the French Revolution is an effort of George Mason’s Center for History and New Media, and is produced as an accompaniment to the Center’s Exploring the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The objectives of this site are different from that of other French Revolution sites in that its focus isn’t famous people and events. Instead Imaging the French Revolution seeks to help the audience understand the events of the revolution from the perspective of the mob. In hopes of achieving this creators have split the website into three categories; essays, images and discussion. The thought process behind the sections is to allow one to first gain an understanding of what occurred, next visualize the event through a collection of 42 cartoons and paintings and finally a discussion section that allows the visitor to read essays about web research and determine if the website has accomplished what it sets out to do. As far as the reliability of the sources the website relies on the scholarship is top notch. Everything on the website is written by scholars who are well respected in their field. Visually the website is very inviting and as an educational resource it does a great job of presenting the information in a stimulating manner without being overly flashy or boring. As soon as you enter the site a series of images accompanies a very basic overview of what the site has to offer allowing the visitor to go exactly where they would like to visit without any confusion or searching. The websites success can also be attributed to its utilization of adobe flash which especially for the images allows quick yet thorough browsing. Overall the website is terrific, it captures exactly what it set out to do, provide a website that transports the viewer back to the 18^th century. The websites modern look and use of new technology such as flash allow it to captivate the viewer visually in order to educate with the wealth of information it contains.