A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution

By Jeremy D. Popkin

Book Overview

From an award-winning historian, a "vivid" (Wall Street Journal) account of the revolution that created the modern world

The French Revolution's principles of liberty and equality still shape our ideas of a just society--even if, after more than two hundred years, their meaning is 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 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541620178
• ISBN13: 9781541620179
• Release Date: October 2021
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A New World Begins was a pleasure to read; intellectually stimulating and providing a critically nee

Clear. Straightforward. Well written. Compelling. Popkin recreates the times of the US revolution and of the overthrow of “Status” Society in France and wider Europe. It refreshed my memory on why I believe in equality, justice, and the rule of law, rather than the rule of men.