| The Ancien Régime and the Revolution Contributor(s): Tocqueville, Alexis de (Author), Bevan, Gerald (Translator), Bevan, Gerald (Introduction by) |
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ISBN: 014144164X ISBN-13: 9780141441641 Publisher: Penguin Group OUR PRICE: $15.30 Product Type: Paperback Published: August 2008 Annotation: A powerful new translation of de Tocquevilleas influential look at the origins of modern France In this penetrating study, Alexis de Tocqueville considers the French Revolution in the context of Franceas history. de Tocqueville worried that although the revolutionary spirit was still alive and well, liberty was no longer its primary objective. Just as the first Republic had fallen to Napoleon and the second had succumbed to his nephew Napoleon III, he feared that all future revolutions might experience the same fate, forever imperiling the development of democracy in France. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - France - History | Revolutionary |
| Dewey: 944.04 |
| Series: Penguin Classics |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5" W x 7.5" (0.55 lbs) 336 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - French - Chronological Period - 18th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A powerful new translation of de Tocqueville's influential look at the origins of modern France The Ancien R gime and the Revolution is a comparison of revolutionary France and the despotic rule it toppled. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) is an objective observer of both periods - providing a merciless critique of the ancien r gime, with its venality, oppression and inequality, yet acknowledging the reforms introduced under Louis XVI, and claiming that the post-Revolution state was in many ways as tyrannical as that of the King; its once lofty and egalitarian ideals corrupted and forgotten. Writing in the 1850s, Tocqueville wished to expose the return to despotism he witnessed in his own time under Napoleon III, by illuminating the grand, but ultimately doomed, call to liberty made by the French people in 1789. His eloquent and instructive study raises questions about liberty, nationalism and justice that remain urgent today. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. |