Recollections: The French Revolution of 1848 (Social Science Classics Series)

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Summary: Tocqueville on revolution and the struggles of democracy
Review: Tocqueville's recollections are more than a mere recounting of history ; they are an interpretation of revolution by one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century. Tocqueville, in analyzing the events of the 1848 revolution in France, depicts vividly the causes of why a revolution which promised the fulfillment of 1789's "life liberty, and fraternity," led to the horror of massacre, and in doing so, investigates the very struggle inherent in the nature of the democratic struggle itself; the struggle between liberty and equality. Tocqueville's Recollections are an important read for any student of the democratic project.