The Old Regime and the French Revolution

by Alexis de Tocqueville and J.M.M de Valk

Book Overview

The French Revolution is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in world history, one whose repercussions still affect Western society today, two hundred years later. The most important contribution to our understanding of the French Revolution was written almost one hundred years ago by Alexis de Tocqueville, who is recognized today as one of the greatest political thinkers of the nineteenth century. Tocqueville's Democracy in America was...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385092601
• ISBN13: 9780385092609
• Release Date: October 1983
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

What caused the French Revolution ?

This was required reading for a graduate course in the history of the French Revolution. Alexis De Tocqueville's research for his book The Old Regime and the Revolution taught him that there were several socio-political and economic causes that led to the Revolution. There is enough excellent historical scholarship available to finally put to bed the myth that the Enlightenment was in and of itself the impetus that caused French citizens to storm the Bastille. According to Tocqueville's excellent analysis in his book, he argues that the waning vestiges of feudalism sowed the seeds of destruction of the Old Regime. The reasons why in France the vestiges of feudalism were torn down in the cataclysmic crash of the French Revolution and not discarded as peaceably, as say in England, is the question to which his book was devoted. The first social structure he turns his attention to is the Church, the Second Estate of France, because of the socio-economic and political power it occupied in the nation. When it came to his observations that the influence the philosophes had on the Revolution, he found that it was not unusual to find intellectuals writing about improving society and that ambition had been historically evident since the early Greeks. What Tocqueville became interested in was that since the mid-eighteenth century, this desire became the bedrock of Enlightenment writing in France and was soaked up like a sponge by its citizenry. Thus, he wrote, "The philosophy of the eighteenth century is rightly considered one of the principle causes of the Revolution and it is certainly true that that philosophy was deeply irreligious" (Tocqueville, 96). Therefore, Tocqueville argued that one of the central causes of the Revolution was the attacks on the Church by the Philosophes throughout the eighteenth century. "The priests were not hated because they claimed to regulate the affairs of the other world, but because they were landowners, lords, tithe collectors, and administrators in this one" (97). Tocqueville noted in his book that during the eighteenth century, for the most part, French intellectuals had no experience or say in governmental affairs. Tocqueville lamented that the philosophe's lack of experience created, "A frightening sight! For what is merit in a writer is sometimes vice in a statesman, and the same things which have often made lovely books can lead to great revolutions" (Tocqueville, 201). However, Tocqueville also found that the country, "...was at the same time the most educated of all nations on earth, and the most fond of things intellectual, one will understand without difficulty how writers became a political power in France, and ended up being the most important one" (Tocqueville 200). Recommended reading for anyone interested in political philosophy, enlightenment history, and the French Revolution. I also recommend you read the book that Tocqueville is most famous for "Democracy In America" although writ

A Classic

The French Revolution is among the most important events that shaped world history. A lot has been written about it and Alexis de Tocqueville is among the most interesting and insightful writers on the subject. The book was first published in 1856, which allowed the author to interact and talk to people who participated or lived through the Revolution. This provides the author with unique insights and information that enabled him to come up with interesting arguments, claims and conclusions. His in-depth analysis of the revolution makes this book a classic which any serious scholar on this significant event needs to read. Drawing on the works of other authors, Tocqueville came up with unconventional views concerning the Revolution, claiming that it was in fact not a sudden occurence but a gradual social process taking place in France culminating in the revolt and continuing after it. He concluded that the Revolution was due to too much centralisation of political power. Such centralisation of political power could then explain the revolutions of 1831 and 1848 in parts of Europe. This book is recommended to those interested in in-depth insights into the French Revolution and for history students.

It's Tocqueville. What More Can I Say?

A fascinating, thorough, and in-depth analysis of the French Revolution. A must-read for any history student.

This Time, Not a Tourist

My friend Ron used to say that he was an extreme right-wing Menshevik - that he knew the revolution was coming, he just didn't approve (does he still think so, I wonder? Must ask). "Disapproval" is probably too strong a word to use for anyone with de Tocqueville's stoicism and aristocratic detachment. But he certainly knows that the revolution is upon us. At the same time, he understands the responsibilities and opportunities of governance. The persistent question is: if we are to have democracy, how do we fashion one where good government can prosper?De Tocqueville's "French Revolution" is more compact, less discursive then his "Democracy in America" because in France, he was not a tourist. This is both a strength and a weakness. His points are crisp, direct and forceful, and you never get over your admiration for his acuity. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the marvel of unfolding that presents itself as he travels through the young United States and tries to imagine the new world that is being born.

a classic

Tocqueville was one of the first if not the first sociologist historians. He shows how the centralizing tendencies were actually started under the monarchy and continued under the Revolution. This book will give a view of someone whose life was spent with the results of what he was writing about. His memoires cover the later Revolution of 1848. Among other things he talks of how taxes that were seen as oppressive under the monarchy were accepted without a whimper under more "popular" government. This is a must for those interested in this topic.