Aaron Goodwin: Without the known French authors to act as catalysts, would there have been a Revolution?
One the most fascinating things for a historian is questioning what knowledge you do know, and also adding to it the "WHAT IF?" question, and theorizing not only whether or not things would have occured, but also how they would have been different.
For example, the last job I applied for I did not get because of my availability. Now, if I had decided to go and check in with the shop owner on Monday rather than Sunday, would my availability have been the issue, would there have been an issue at all? I don't know, and it seems I can only think on it, because there is no action against the past.
So again, without the writers we know of today as having helped spur a revolution into motion, would there have been a Revolution at all? And if so, how would it have been different? In addition, how would this have affected French Identity today?
