
L'ancien régime et la Révolution
by Alexis de Tocqueville · first published 1856
3mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2010–2025first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution (1856) is a work by the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville translated in English as either The Old Regime and the Revolution or The Old Regime and the French Revolution. The book analyzes French society before the French Revolution, the so-called "Ancien Régime", and investigates the forces that caused the Revolution. It is one of the major early historical works on the French Revolution. In this book, de Tocqueville develops his main theory about the French revolution, the theory of continuity, in which he states that even though the French tried
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

> He left behind one or two books that are still worth reading, but his most important legacy was his simplest. Was this irony/sarcasm? Because my detector is off. First of all, I read his 2 volumes of "Democracy in America" a couple of years ago, right after I had read Thucydides's "History of the Peloponnesian War" and just before reading Lord Acton's essays on liberty, and I challenge any
on “Kevin Connolly's guide to American culture” ↗L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution (1856) by Alexis de Tocqueville. In English it is either The Old Regime and the Revolution or The Old Regime and the French Revolution.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗As Tocqueville writes in "De l'ancien régime et la révolution", centralization was already underway since Louis XIV, and heavily. Napoleon just picked up on it and continued the process.
on “'Block Everything' protests sweep across France, scores arrested” ↗