The Old Regime and the Revolution, Volume I: The Complete Text

The Old Regime and the Revolution is Alexis de Tocqueville's great meditation on the origins and meanings of the French Revolution. One of the most profound and influential studies of this pivotal event, it remains a relevant and stimulating discussion of the problem of preserving individual and political freedom in the modern world. Alan Kahan's translation provides a faithful, readable rendering of Tocqueville's last masterpiece, and includes notes and variants which reveal Tocqueville's sources and include excerpts from his drafts and revisions. The introduction by France's most eminent scholars of Tocqueville and the French Revolution, Françoise Mélonio and the late François Furet, provides a brilliant analysis of the work.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his works, Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution.

 

Alan S. Kahan is professor of British Civilization at the University of Versailles/St. Quentin.

François Furet (1927-97) was the leading French historian of the Revolution and, according to the New York Times, "one of the most influential French thinkers of the post-war era."

 

Françoise Mélonio is professor emeritus of Sorbonne-University and Doctor of Letters. She is the editor of Gallimard's critical edition of Tocqueville's complete works.