A new world begins : the history of the French Revolution

From an award-winning historian, a magisterial account of the revolution that created the modern world The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society -- even if, after more than two hundred years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins , Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the reader in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society. We meet Mirabeau, Robespierre, and Danton, in all of their brilliance and vengefulness; we witness the failed escape and execution of Louis XVI; we see women demanding equal rights and black slaves wresting freedom from revolutionaries who hesitated to act on their own principles; and we follow the rise of Napoleon out of the ashes of the Reign of Terror. Based on decades of scholarship, A New World Begins will stand as the definitive treatment of the French Revolution. "The French Revolution was the 'big bang' out of which all the elements of modern politics and social conflicts were formed. Democracy, populism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism, feminism, and abolitionism are all heirs to the momentous upheaval that began in Paris in 1789. Historian Jeremy Popkin offers a riveting account of the Revolution that puts the reader in the thick of the debates and the turmoil that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society. Going beyond the typical cast of Robespierre, Danton, and Mirabeau, Popkin includes the women who demanded equal rights and the enslaved blacks who wrested freedom from revolutionaries to recount how people sought to make themselves 'free and equal in rights.' From the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man to the rise of Napoleon out of the ashes of the Reign of Terror, [this book] is a history of the French Revolution for our own time. Even after more than two hundred years, Popkin argues, the principles of the French Revolution continue to guide the search for a just society. Based on decades of scholarship, A New World Begins is a magisterial account of the revolution that created the modern world."-- Résumé de l'éditeur "The French Revolution was the 'big bang' out of which all the elements of modern politics and social conflicts were formed. Democracy, populism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism, feminism, and abolitionism are all heirs to the momentous upheaval that began in Paris in 1789. Historian Jeremy Popkin offers a riveting account of the Revolution that puts the reader in the thick of the debates and the turmoil that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society. Going beyond the typical cast of Robespierre, Danton, and Mirabeau, Popkin includes the women who demanded equal rights and the enslaved blacks who wrested freedom from revolutionaries to recount how people sought to make themselves 'free and equal in rights.' From the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man to the rise of Napoleon out of the ashes of the Reign of Terror, [this book] is a history of the French Revolution for our own time. Even after more than two hundred years, Popkin argues, the principles of the French Revolution continue to guide the search for a just society. Based on decades of scholarship, A New World Begins is a magisterial account of the revolution that created the modern world."--Dust jacket flap