A New World Begins

A single-volume narrative history of the French Revolution from the fiscal crisis of the 1780s through Thermidor and Napoleon, written by a historian of the revolutionary press. Popkin’s emphasis is on how quickly ordinary people learned to act politically once the old order cracked — and on how the Revolution generated, in the same decade, both the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Terror.

Why it’s on the list: It closes the Renaissance and Enlightenment Political Thought section as the case study: the moment the Enlightenment’s political ideas were actually tried at scale, read alongside Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, which is the next entry on the list.

Where I saw it: On Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Renaissance and Enlightenment Political Thought, saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription lives on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the list this came from.