He saw the pitfalls of the course his country was taking more clearly than any of his contemporaries, including Karl Marx. Recollections was first written for self-clarification. It is both an exciting, candid, behind-the-scenes account of what actually happened during those tumultuous months and a remarkably shrewd analysis that has become an accurate forecast of future societies wrestling with the dilemma of synthesizing equality and freedom. Thus the book has a relevance that extends beyond France, to our own country and others, a relevance that is explored in J.P. Mayer's new introduction.Out of print in English for several years, Recollections is presented here in a translation based on the definitive French edition of 1964. It captures the wit and subtlety of mind that have made this book one of the most popular of all Tocqueville's works. Tocqueville's own comments, which he wrote into the manuscript, including his variants, are given, and the editors have added explanatory notes.

    Students of French history and lovers of rousing tales alike will find in this hard-to-find work an alternative look at the French Revolution from one of the great anarchist thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Communist advocate PETER ALEXEYEVICH KROPOTKIN (1842-1921) was deemed "perfect" by Oscar Wilde, who described Kropotkin as a man with "a soul of that beautiful white Christ which seems coming out of Russia." Here, he takes the first serious look at the economic side of the popular Gallic uprising, exploring: the spirit of the revolt the declaration of the rights of man the fears of the middle classes financial difficulties of the Revolution feudal legislation in 1790 social demands and arbitrary taxation the problems with paper money schemes for the socialization of the means of subsistence and exchange and much more.Originally published in two small volumes, this replica edition combines the authorized 1927 American publication into one book that may change how modern readers think about the French Revolution.