The Ancien Régime and the Revolution (Penguin Classics)

Great translation. This book is peerless. Written by one of the wisest observers of politics ever born, with all of the experience of human history behind his observations and a clear, undramatic, persuasive style. There are quotable moments on every page.

This is a very dry historical read. It is very well researched and will give you a unique and important perspective that you won’t get in other books. This dives into the tax records and other state records in depth. The research that was done is truly incredibly and for anybody interested in learning about this pivotal time in history this is a critical puzzle piece.

This may not be the best book that I have ever read, but it is certainly among the most important. The conditions leading up the French Revolution are still alive and well and relevant today. As they say "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".This book is not necessarily long or difficult to understand but it is dense. I believe that it is best read once and then studied in detail.

The author gives the social, economic and political background of the French Revolution, and/ or the revolutions that followed the first one.The book becomes tedious at points in the story, but is a worthwhile read if one is has a love for history of the western world. Alexis de Tocqueville is also the author of Democracy in America, a very important book on our developing a new world order and his wise advice on maintaining our democratic form of government..

This inexpensive edition of Tocqueville's perhaps lesser-known work is excellent. I had read "Democracy in America" but was unaware of the existence of this work. The author digs deeply into largely-ignored library resources to document this well-organized investigation of the changes in French cultural from the Manorial System to the French Revolution. What emerges is an explanation of what France lost during the centralized administration of Louis XIV and his successors. The Revolution itself failed to produce democracy because it had lost contact with the roots of local government. Written after Tocqueville had come to see what the emerging democracy in America looked like, this book is an excellent source.

If you are wondering what is happening in the year 2020, with all of it's chaos; this book, written in the 1800s about the French Revolution and, all of the tyranny and terror that it produced; is like reading a present day News cast.

Extraordinary book. Detailing conditions immediately before the French Revolution.Translated into easy-to-read prose.Full of fascinating facts.Highly recommended to anyone interested in this subject matter.It is in marked contrast to the subject as typically treated (if at all) in textbooks.

It was almost eerie that much of the book could have been written today. The insights into that time (and ours) are very thought provoking.

Arrived on time and on perfect condition. Very happy with my purchase.

This is book gives a very rare view into the 18c france and situations prevailing at that time which led to the revolution.This book should be read only if your purely interested in historical transistion of France and spirit of revolution

A good read

This is a classic and has achieved world wide acclaim. Need I say more?