"An outstanding work of synthesis and imagination." Ian McIntyre, The Times "This brilliant book by one of France's leading historians is the second to be published in a five-volume History of France from 987 to 1987. It is as elegantly written as it is translated. The style is lively." Sunday Telegraph "Everyone interested in the French Revolution and its consequences should read this important, stimulating and accessible book." Times Literary Supplement "Anyone with an interest in the period will find, along with a rich and powerful narrative, some remarkably stimulating, profound and humane reflections on France's complex political experience." Times Higher Education Supplement "An impressive, even dazzling achievement." London Review of Books "Francois Furet has a good claim to be considered the leading living historian of the French revolution. A very well written book, skilfully translated by Antonia Nevill." History Today "The bicentennial of the French Revolution has brought forth many fine histories of that pivotal event in as many languages. But none has attained the scope of Furet's volume in the projected five-volume history of France from 987 AD to 1987. Superbly translated from the French by Antonia Nevill, Furet's handsome volume charts a critical century in that 1,000 years." Journal of Interdisciplinary History