A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution

The issues surrounding the French Revolution were very complex, and there were multitudes of different players with competing passions and motivations—only some of which overlapped. The extremely rapid changes that took place over the course of only a few years are hard to follow, as power shifted from one group to the next, although always with the result of less power to the monarchy. From our vantage point, it is easy to think that the results of the Revolution were a foregone conclusion, but there were many inflection points where things could have turned out quite differently. The author here presents an all-encompassing explanation of those brief years in a weighty tome that nevertheless reads like a novel. Characters who, at first, seemed minor or merely illustrative, become major protagonists; ideas that, at first, were fringe, become seminal; and events race forward, snowballing to the death of the Republic and the rise of Napoleon. There is so much more to the French Revolution than the meager facts that confused you in school, and it is worth knowing. It is said that those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it. Those willing to look may find uncomfortably salient parallels to today.