This book explores the creation and career of the French Constitution of 1795, operative from the start of the Directory until Napoleon’s takeover in 1799. It explores the composition, history and replacement of the French Revolution’s third Constitution through a focus on the speeches and writings of four sets of political voices discernible in late 1790s France. The four main chapters present these voices as Thermidorians, Conservatives, Republicans and Brumairiens. They reveal the intensity and breadth of the debates generated by the permanent tension between the Constitution...