The Old Regime and the French Revolution

Translated by Stuart Gilbert.
This translation of Tocqueville's masterpiece, origianlly published in 1856, is a monumental study of the French Revolution and an essential counterpart to Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Tocqueville's brilliant examination explores the origins, course and consequences of the French Revolution.

Stuart Gilbert's translation of Tocqueville's 1856 masterpiece is a monumental study of the French Revolution and an essential counterpart to Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Tocqueville's brilliant examination explores the origins, course, and consequences of the French Revolution. Part One discusses conflicting opinions concerning the revolution at its outbreak. Part Two explores the Old Regime-its administration, centralization, paternalistic government, immunity of public servants, the provinces, suppression of political freedom, class barriers, and peasantry. Part Three analyzes the direct causes of the revolution, including how eighteenth-century men of letters took the lead in politics, the vehement antireligious feelings that influenced the revolution, the desire for reform and freedom, and the outbreak of the revolution itself.