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Simon Schama's Controversial but Well-Written Chronicle of the French Revolution.

Historian and writer Simon Schama. His revisionist history of the French Revolution - Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution - has been one of the most talked-about and debated volumes of history in the last several years. Critics have lauded Schama for bringing vividly to life the characters that inspired the five-year popular uprising that changed the modern political order. One portion of the book's controversy is Schama's contention that the revolution was oftentimes sustained by little more than "rhetorical adrenaline," that it wasn't the clear and careful articulation of popular discontent it has been since pictured as.

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Other segments from the episode on July 11, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 11, 1989: Interview with Simon Schama; Commentary on glam rock; Interview with Rick Bass; Review of Thomas Friedman's memoir "From Beirut to Jerusalem."
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11:05

The Thrill of Finding Oil.

Author Rick Bass. His new book, Oil Notes, is a journal based on Bass' experience as a geologist looking for oil throughout the American West. Bass has also written short stories, essays, and environmental journalism.

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When Euphemisms are Used to Cover Bad Behavior.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the word "zeal." Nunberg has noticed that the euphemism "overzealous" has been used to explain away everything from executions during the French Revolution to the beating of Rodney King.

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