Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the efforts of nine European intellectuals, including Tocqueville, Flaubert and Marx, to make sense of 1848, Jonathan Beecher casts a fresh and engaging perspective on the experience and impact of the Revolution, and on why, within two generations, a democratic revolution had twice culminated in the dictatorship of a Napoleon.
Trade Review'A truly remarkable book which will interest historians of France, of the revolution of 1848, of those who were thrilled by the change it promised, of those who feared it, and of their varying but universal disappointments. An excellent read and an important book.' Patrice Higonnet, University of Harvard
'In 1848, France had a revolution, declared a republic, elected a dictator. This engaging book vividly evokes the hopes, expectations, and disappointments of a year when anything seemed possible. As we confront the weakness of liberal democracies today, a reminder of the lost radical ideas that preceded them could not be more timely.' Rebecca Spang, Indiana University
'Jonathan Beecher's book is a brilliant summation of many years' thinking about the meaning of a revolution, which has remained enigmatic both for contemporaries and for us. The experience of 1848 is recounted through the reactions of nine of the most powerful writers of that time, from George Sand to Flaubert.' Gareth Stedman Jones, University of Cambridge
'At the heart of (this book) is a simple but powerful idea: to follow nine contemporary intellectuals … into the revolution, link arms with them as they pass through its euphoria, confusion and violence, and track their steps as they re-emerge into the post-revolutionary world.' Christopher Clark, London Review of Books
Table of Contents1. Prologue; 2. Lamartine, the Girondins and 1848; 3. George Sand: 'The People' Found and Lost; 4. Marie d'Agoult: A Liberal Republican; 5. Victor Hugo: The Republic as a Learning Experience; 6. Tocqueville: 'A Vile Tragedy Performed by Provincial Actors'; 7. Proudhon: 'A Revolution Without An Idea'; 8. Alexander Herzen: A Tragedy Both Collective and Personal; 9. Marx: The Meaning of a Farce; 10. Flaubert: Lost Hopes and Empty Words; 11: Aftermath, Themes and Conclusion.
