Kindle
$16.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$31.64
Paperback
$15.99
Buy new:
-30% $15.99
FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$15.99 with 30 percent savings
List Price: $22.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
In Stock
$$15.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$15.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$15.18
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 16 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$15.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$15.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Jeremy D. Popkin
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

New World Begins Paperback – October 26, 2021

by Jeremy D. Popkin (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 645 ratings
Editors' pick Best History
See all formats and editions
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
View Kindle Edition
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$15.99","priceAmount":15.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"0Vs3F3aO4tI26blZNrQgvZOuESEvgF%2B2duYsYz15Q6PrCUqEPYesLuVWj9nTztPuOBSzpzsj67akYIdokRNBWFA0MPWSJzKYgq9Yud87%2FPSgjTSKnxhO4zPcQhRe3CZXaWFQYlHXcsa%2B0dPEco22Yw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$15.18","priceAmount":15.18,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"18","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"0Vs3F3aO4tI26blZNrQgvZOuESEvgF%2B2S8EP4kT3hsiSaraZKuDdGJt0RmgusH9YxPkyo%2B6pze13anHwZJW%2BVXcO%2FYMgqwb9q6WXtqgHfp0eB0LFnlAmC0hkKw5AqBKcBYKKC8QUgQ3o8eYFK449MOdl6XyT493%2FMH%2FUQ%2B7j%2FoRMy1IvcrCFyPcvLm70jQVZ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From an award-winning historian, a “vivid” (Wall Street Journal) account of the revolution that created the modern world

The French Revolution’s principles of liberty and equality still shape our ideas of a just society—even if, after more than two hundred years, their meaning is more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the reader in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society. We meet Mirabeau, Robespierre, and Danton, in all their brilliance and vengefulness; we witness the failed escape and execution of Louis XVI; we see women demanding equal rights and Black slaves wresting freedom from revolutionaries who hesitated to act on their own principles; and we follow the rise of Napoleon out of the ashes of the Reign of Terror.

Based on decades of scholarship, A New World Begins will stand as the definitive treatment of the French Revolution.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    640 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 26, 2021
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.6 x 8.25 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1541620178
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1541620179
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

New World Begins
$15.99
Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Napoleon: A Life
$20.99
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History
$34.37
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A fresh and fair-minded account of the revolution overflowing with vivid narrative detail and clear exposition.”
 ―Wall Street Journal

“When it comes to showing how events can scramble the prospects of even the most determined plotters, Popkin has no equal, and readers will find in his pages a deeply satisfying account of the inevitable messiness of rapid change.”―New York Review of Books

“Popkin’s expertise on revolutionary-era France is keenly demonstrated here—from pre-revolutionary thought through the history of the country up to Louis XVI and his Hapsburg wife, Marie-Antoinette, and beyond, to the years of upheaval and the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte.”
 ―Booklist

"A fresh, welcome new interpretation of the French Revolution."―Kirkus

"This is a book that has been needed for a long time: a lucid, engaging, authoritative, accurate, and up-to-date history of the French Revolution. Jeremy Popkin is one of the great living experts on the subject, and he has drawn on a half-century of study to produce this first-rate work. Particularly impressive is the way he integrates the history of the Haitian Revolution into that of the French Revolution. A New World Begins will appeal to experts, students, and general readers alike."―David A. Bell, professor of history, Princeton University and author of Men on Horseback: Charisma and Power in the Age of Revolutions

"Jeremy Popkin is one of the most eminent scholars working on the French Revolution, and his A New World Begins provides us with the best, fullest and most up-to-date history of the Revolutionary decade from 1789 through to the advent of Napoleon. Writing with an insight that distils a lifetime's study, Popkin is particularly alert to the range of experience of those who lived through the Revolutionary years. There is heart and compassion here as well as wit and intelligence: Popkin does not flinch from recounting the Revolution's more sombre legacies, but can still elicit in his readers a bitter-sweet sense of excitement about a moment in western history when, indeed, a new epoch in the history of humanity seemed to be blossoming."―Colin Jones, author of The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon 1715-99

"Sweeping in coverage, A New World Begins offers a fresh and richly detailed account of French revolutionary politics. Jeremy Popkin is an outstanding scholar of the French and Haitian Revolutions, and his deep layers of expertise shine through the pages of this book. This thought-provoking account will push readers to reflect deeply on the contradictions and complexities of modern democracy."―Suzanne Desan, professor of history, University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of TheFamily on Trial in Revolutionary France

"Based on nearly half a century of research and teaching, Jeremy Popkin's new study of the French Revolution brilliantly brings alive the complex goals and emotions of the men and women and people of color struggling to create a new world. It is especially effective in exploring what that struggle meant, both for the generation of Revolutionaries and for our own day. A New World Begins is an outstanding synthesis that is sure to stand as basic reading on the subject for many years to come."―Timothy Tackett, professor emeritus of history, UC Irvine and author of Becoming a Revolutionary

About the Author

Jeremy D. Popkin holds the William T. Bryan chair of history at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of many books, including You Are All Free and A Short History of the French Revolution. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (October 26, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 640 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1541620178
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541620179
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.6 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 645 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jeremy D. Popkin

Jeremy D. Popkin

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
645 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

William J. Bahr
5.0 out of 5 stars Oui, a Masterpiece of French Revolutionary History!
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
Another title: "A Tale of Two Men"? This is a gem of a book about the French Revolution based upon Dr. Popkin’s lifetime study of that immensely historic event. His previous seven editions of “A Short History of the French Revolution” dealt with the Revolution’s most important events within a space of around 160 pages. Now, in what may be called one of the French Revolution’s “definitive histories,” he provides some 640 pages of interesting information, four times the earlier page count. This expanded page count allows him to delve deep into the interesting background that forced the major events. It also allows him to tell how the Revolution developed from the perspective of two interesting characters, King Louis XVI and the artisan glasscutter Ménétra, one of the very few commoners who wrote a memoir of his life during the Revolution.

Extremely well-written and documented, it’s truly a joy to read and an excellent example of how otherwise dry history can be “turned” into a page-turner.” A must-read for those wishing to understand the underpinnings of man’s quest for a just society. Highly recommended!

NB: In consideration of Dr. Popkins' next edition, I offer up that on Kindle page 16 (book 17), he comments that Louis’ high-tech-at-the-time locksmithing skill, encouraged as a youth, was "regarded as a bizarre eccentricity" as an adult. However, locksmithing was one interest Louis XVI shared with his 4x great-grandfather, Louis XIII. But, yes, Louis XVI's excessive interest and time spent in locksmithing, along with hunting, took him away from his important state obligations. Also, on page 309, the author mentions that the “locksmith Gamain, who had taught Louis XVI his craft so many years earlier,” helped authorities discover the King’s hidden safe full of incriminating papers. Actually, the teacher was Nicholas Gamain. The tattle-tale was his son, Francois, who alongside Louis, learned the art of making locks and keys from his father, Nicolas. It was Francois' disclosure that provided the critical evidence needed for moving the King to trial and execution for treason.

“Character is Key for Liberty!” Check out how “Character, Culture, and Constitution” played “key” roles in the American and French Revolutions:  George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul , a best-seller at Mount Vernon.
40 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Weid
4.0 out of 5 stars Well done, but flawed, interpretation
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
As the title suggests, the French Revolution reverberated far outside the place and time in which it occurred. Popkin takes an overall favorable view of the FR and its impact, emphasizing the positive aspects of its legacy relevant to the political world we inhabit today. A significant miss is that Popkin doesn't make his case for why liberal democracy and republicanism in his "new world" begins with the FR; these can more accurately be attributed to the American Revolution. The US Declaration of Independence predates France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen by 13 years; the US Constitution by one year. Not just ideas: even some of the same actors who had already made history in the American Revolution return for an encore during the FR. Thomas Paine and Marquis de Lafayatte come to mind as they are featured throughout this book. In the US, these two are part of a pantheon celebrated for their contributions to the founding of the republic. Contrast that with revolutionary France, where Lafayette was forced into exile to avoid arrest and likely execution and Paine was imprisoned for a time - not by the ancien regime but by their erstwhile revolutionary allies! This anecdote hints at a larger truth of the FR: while liberal democracy and republicanism is a central inheritance from the American Revolution, the FR bequeathed radical populism and leftist fascination with political violence and revolutionary terror as a means to an end. The line from the revolutionary tribunals, Committee of Public Safety, Reign of Terror and the guillotine to the Stalinist show trials, mass executions of 'wreckers and saboteurs', the Gulag, and even to antifa today is much more clear and direct than Popkin seems to want to admit. Social engineering and European nationalism along with their implications (total war and genocide) is another legacy of the FR that isn't adequately addressed here. The FR is an important event in modern history and worthy of updated interpretation, but in contrast to the stability and success of the American experiment it can be more readily understood as a warning of tragic overreach - the Enlightenment culmination in a Promethean disaster that haunts our world today.

(Another interesting note: France is currently in its Fifth Republic and has vacillated between returning to monarchy, empire, and various republics with multiple constitutions at different points since the FR. The US has adapted, improved, and ultimately maintained the same Constitution for over two hundred years.)

And yet Popkin is very willing to engage with counter arguments and explicitly acknowledges facts and events difficult to square with rose-colored interpretations of the FR. I give him credit for taking a balanced approach and recognizing inconvenient interpretations. Disagreements aside, my only real complaint is that he doesn't address the pessimistic view of the FR legacy more head-on. He acknowledges the arguments at various points, but then seems to wave them aside without really making an attempt to address the central critique.

Popkin starts his interpretation by briefly sketching out and comparing the lives of Louis XVI and a skilled tradesman, Jacque-Louis Menetra, who observed and took part in aspects of the FR. At various points throughout he weaves in details from Menetra's memoirs to help provide a different perspective on the FR that we seldom see at an individual level - that of the everyday person who contributed to the overall picture. This helps make Popkin's account especially enjoyable.

Vitally, Popkin does a great job of integrating uprisings in French colonies by free and enslaved people and their move toward freedom and abolition of slavery into the story of the FR. This isn't just 'tacked on' to pay tribute to the gods of political correctness within university history departments and publishing houses; it actually contributes to the overall richness and complexity of the story by describing causes and impacts of the movements on the broader picture. Many other books on the subject miss this entirely or consolidate it all into one chapter, making it feel almost like a completely separate event. In many ways this part of the story is the truly "new world" aspect of the FR. Despite its various backtracking and fits and starts, Popkin makes the case that slavery and abolition was debated explicitly by the republican leaders, unlike how it was more or less swept under the rug (temporarily) in America.

This is a respectable work and Popkin's decades of research on the subject is apparent throughout. Some of the rhetoric around the FR's break with the past and its legacy to western liberalism is overblown, and the enduring nature of its tragic excesses doesn't get as much emphasis as deserved. The colonial issues and debates over freedom and slavery and their importance to the broader picture of the FR is treated very well. At the end of the day, I still won't be celebrating Bastille Day, but how boring would it be to only read writers with which you agree.
53 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Daniel Olguin
3.0 out of 5 stars buen producto
Reviewed in Mexico on April 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
aunque el producto es lo esperado, el servicio de entrega ha sido pésimo, no lo dejo en mi domicilio,
lo dejo botado en el jardín de un vecino, sin embargo en la página de amazon aparece como entregado
a un residente de mi domicilio, afirmación que es falsa.
el vecino donde fue dejado mi paquete me lo entrego poco después,
notifique al servicio de atención a clientes de amazon del servicio deplorable, me ofrecieron devolución
del monto y gastos de envio, sin embargo no he recibido ningún reembolso
Report
AncBedran
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELENT. The reading is smooth. A modern aproach of an imperative subject
Reviewed in Brazil on March 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
I was looking for a more recently written history of the French Revolution because of the relevance modern history research tecnichs and new documentations, interpretations and, above all in this particular book, players or places, peoples of immense importance that were almost not commented in many other books: slaves and women!
A very pleasant reading and a key to understand more the world today.
With half a century studying the subject, Professor Jeremy D. Popkin gave the world a new and deeper vision of the French Revolution.
Customer image
AncBedran
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELENT. The reading is smooth. A modern aproach of an imperative subject
Reviewed in Brazil on March 21, 2022
I was looking for a more recently written history of the French Revolution because of the relevance modern history research tecnichs and new documentations, interpretations and, above all in this particular book, players or places, peoples of immense importance that were almost not commented in many other books: slaves and women!
A very pleasant reading and a key to understand more the world today.
With half a century studying the subject, Professor Jeremy D. Popkin gave the world a new and deeper vision of the French Revolution.
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image
Customer imageCustomer image
Report
Colin Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive retelling of the French Revolution in the 1790s.
Reviewed in Germany on April 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
A very well written book, plenty of interesting comments regarding the attempt to introduce total equality for all men regardless of political, racial or religious beliefs.
Report
Bill Words
5.0 out of 5 stars Deep and vivid
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
Don’t be discouraged by the small number of negative reviews claiming this book is dull: yes, it’s rather long, and yes, it goes into great depth in places, but if you want snappy, buy the Very Short Introduction title instead. I don’t mind admitting I struggled with parts of it – I’m not a historian, and the French Revolution is a period I know very little about – but that’s no fault of the book, which at over 600 pages is clearly intended to be a comprehensive account, not just an introduction (although it’s served very well as that).

What Popkin offers is a reflective, fascinating study that takes its time with each major event – 1789 is covered across a number of chapters, for instance, month by month – and it abounds with rich detail. He ensures the Revolution is seen in a wider context of revolutions, too, examining the influence of early American politics on France, France’s effect on Haiti, and so on. He also gives room to the lives of women and of people of colour, revealing parallel narratives many readers won’t have read before, myself included. Popkin’s focus on the miserable irony of a revolution pursuing liberty in a country so heavily invested in slavery yields particularly strong insights: it was a problem frequently noted and frequently shouted over at the time. All in all, this is a superb if heavy-going book, and greatly rewards the effort of reading it.
15 people found this helpful
 Report
Dave Trembley
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehension Overview of the French Revolution
Reviewed in Canada on February 19, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book on the French Revolution. What Popkin does exceptionally well is present the events of the revolution in their situational context, showing just how much things were constantly in flux, subject to wildly dramatic change, but also that the outcomes that did occur were by no means predictable. Many events hung in the balance, and the reader understands clearly how easily things could have gone a different way.
Report