Volume 1: The Bastille
Background
Volume 1 takes us from the death of Louis XV in May 1774 to the storming of the Bastille in July 1789.
Notes
The epigram comes from Goethe, whom Carlyle loved. It translates to:
I compare this land to an anvil, the hammer to the ruler; And the people to the sheet metal, which bends in the middle. Woe to the poor sheet metal, if only arbitrary strikes Hit uncertainly, and the pot never appears finished!