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Reflections on the Revolution in France Paperback – April 19, 2022

by Edmund Burke (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 574 ratings
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When the French Revolution was still in its infancy, intellectual Edmund Burke put pen to paper and created a 1790 political masterpiece that has stood the test of time. In stark contrast to his initial conviction in August 1789 that it was a “wonderful spectacle,” Burke’s classic and hard-hitting polemic accuses the French people of throwing off “the yoke of laws and morals” alongside“ their political servitude.” Burke dismisses the French Revolution as a threat to European stability and argues that it was an altogether different affair from England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. He reflects that the French Revolution was anarchic and destroyed all that he, as a conservative, held dear, such as religion, state, and culture.

Contemporaries such as “The Rights Of Man” author Thomas Paine savaged Burke’s work, branding him out of touch and sycophantic to figures such as Marie Antoinette. Yet Burke’s persuasive, logical argument that the French Revolution would add to the chaos and hardship of the French people has been proven right by history. “Reflections” is one of Burke’s best-known works. It is a superbly written socio-political observation from an extremely well-informed and contemporary source whose literary and rhetorical talents have dazzled each subsequent generation.
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  1. Print length
    260 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 19, 2022
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.65 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1774263866
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1774263860
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ East India Publishing Company (April 19, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1774263866
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1774263860
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.65 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 574 ratings

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Edmund Burke

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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
574 global ratings
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5 Stars
DONT BUY THIS
This is one third of the actual text and it is super tiny. The one star reviews kinda got buried, so I’m warning people this way. Returning it.
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Top reviews from the United States

Claudia Gennari Lacerda
5.0 out of 5 stars the case for conservatism
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024
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This book is so relevant and eloquent. It is a beautiful and sane defense of conservative values, tradition, religion and government. I would highly recommend it. It is a rebuttal of the French revolution but can be used for any form of “progressive” revolution. Excellent!
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Geoff Puterbaugh
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, & still relevant (!) to our times
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2010
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I don't think anyone involved in my education ever required me to read this book, which I find one of the most interesting books of the last 500 years.

As an example of Burke's thinking, let's turn to the "natural rights" of man: "life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness." The traditional defense of these arguments has been that they derive from God, or from Providence, or from Nature (whatever "Nature" with-a-capital-N might turn out to be!)

But by now, there is an entirely different, Burkean argument for these rights. I can't put the argument with Burke's eloquence, but he would say that these are **American** rights, declared at the founding of our nation, and since then handed down from generation to generation as a priceless birthright, as the proper inheritance of every American citizen. They don't have to "derive" from anywhere except the American political tradition, the American political inheritance, which we should be on constant guard to protect, so that we may hand the same precious birthright on, to our children and grandchildren.

Burke's analysis of the French National Assembly is masterful, and also contains lessons for today. What impressed Burke strongly was the devotion of the revolutionaries to abstract ideas, and the fact that they delivered the government of France into the hands of incompetents. Almost 300 of the 600 were petty lawyers, plus some illiterate peasants and a few merchants --- "and you expect these people to run a government?" Burke would ask, adding, "especially after all legitimate power had been destroyed?" He tellingly notes that NONE of the members of the National Assembly had any experience with government, and so (obviously) they were not up to the task.

Compare and contrast this with the current situation in Washington, where almost none of the appointees or czars has any experience with running a business, much less a government. Burke would be saying, with sarcasm, "Well, what would you expect?" You cannot govern through mere abstractions such as "Hope" and "Change." If you want to deal with the outside world, you need a Secretary of State with some experience in foreign affairs. If you want to help the economy recover from a bad shock, you need some people with experience at doing so. If you want to plug an oil leak, do NOT send out for more professors --- send out for people with experience at plugging oil leaks.

Burke points out a huge list of other problems, such as the mob in Paris demanding that ALL bishops be immediately hung from the lampposts, the endless series of murders, assassinations, and "expropriations" which led France into chaos, and then the Great Terror. By the time Napoleon swings by to pick up the broken pieces, and begin his own career as a murderer of Europeans by the millions, you may at least find yourself wondering whether Edmund Burke was not right: establishing and running a successful government is not a task for children or for ideologues. An essential factor is respect for what has gone before, and the old American attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I recommend this book very highly, and would only caution that it makes for slow reading, because every single sentence is pregnant with thought.
46 people found this helpful
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Else Brit Rosli
4.0 out of 5 stars What is most brilliant is that Burke Was clearsighted about the problems the ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2018
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I must reread the book once more to make definit opinion on the different problems the book describes.What is most brilliant is that Burke
Was clearsighted about the problems the revolution created in the making of a New state when the old regime was torn away,The property
Of the Church,the property of the nobles were taken and the laws of the state had not Been ready for major changes.To make big changes
You must be prepared with a goverment,New laws and the wise action in keeping some of the old traditions to show the people that You have
Some respect for the history of your country like England etc.in the glorious revolution.Burke SAW that sertain groupes of people had no power
And This could start a revolution in other countries also.Some authors like Edward Gibbon and Jacob Burchardt (both very famous) did not like
Revolutions either.The Russian revolution was May be more necessary,but made the country ready for Stalin and in France for Napoleon.
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Sarah Mac.
5.0 out of 5 stars DONT BUY THIS
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
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This is one third of the actual text and it is super tiny. The one star reviews kinda got buried, so I’m warning people this way. Returning it.
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Sarah Mac.
5.0 out of 5 stars DONT BUY THIS
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
This is one third of the actual text and it is super tiny. The one star reviews kinda got buried, so I’m warning people this way. Returning it.
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Michael Pappie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great then Great now
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2017
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Love Edmund Burke. He was, I believe, one of the greatest writers and statesmen of his time. His command of the English language was superlative. He cannot be surpassed for eloquence. Anyone who has even a cursory interest in the French Revolution cannot ignore his writings. Burke stands like a great and majestic British Oak tree underneath whose strong and spreading branches you can find shade and take rest.
Burke was fighting, in reality, proto-communism. He saw with prescient clarity where the Jacobin philosophies would lead. He sounded a clear warning about the dire and destructive consequences that the French Revolution would unleash.
He immediately saw that the French Revolution was not at all what it ostensibly claimed to be —Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. It was instead a rebellion; a rebellion against authority-- any authority- all authority- in any form. The heralded “empire of light and reason” would bring forth a dark and dangerous ochlocracy.
Of course, if you’re any student of history you will have heard of the debate between Burke and Thomas Paine. Although Paine does well in arguing his case- his points do have weight and merit, he cannot approach Burke in eloquence, beauty of language or power of metaphor.
Burke will stand, as he has stood for over two hundred years, as a beacon and light over and against those who have claimed- and continue to claim- that only they know what’s best for mankind.
75 people found this helpful
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Marc Labonne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
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Great
One person found this helpful
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Count of Monkee Cristo
4.0 out of 5 stars No Margins :(
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2021
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I purchased this publication because my professor required it. I love the look of the book, but I personally need more space in the margins to write. I also prefer smaller pages of reading so I can remember where certain parts of the reading are on the page. When the pages are written like a single-spaced, normal size paper, it gets really tough for me.
One person found this helpful
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David Peebles
3.0 out of 5 stars Timely, but Turbid
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2013
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A lot of comparisons and conflict between the French model of Revolution and the English/American model. The prose is, however Burke at his finest, most turgid 18th century legalese.
4 people found this helpful
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Augustin
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good wisdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2023
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Can be a hard read however it offers a glimpse of what our ancestors wished to both achieve and the dangers of a poor revolution
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Vishal
5.0 out of 5 stars Finely wrought
Reviewed in India on October 15, 2019
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A scathing polemic against the follies of French revolution written in a most ornate, almost filigreed, style, which has come to be identified as typical Burkean mode of writing. The winding style can be a bit thoroughgoing initially, but once you've got the hang of the tempo you will see why even the most strident critics of Burke would kill to be able to write like him.
2 people found this helpful
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Cristiano Mestriner
5.0 out of 5 stars A origem do conservadorismo
Reviewed in Brazil on July 17, 2013
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Esse livro é fundamental para quem quer entender o surgimento do pensamento intelectual conservador. Burke com uma lucidez magistral desmonta literalmente aquele que talvez seja o maior fetiche da humanidade, a Revolução Francesa. Eu quando jovem era marxista e acreditava no socialismo. O tempo foi passando e eu fui ficando mais moderado até conhecer Burke e Tocqueville. Lendo e relendo esse livro pude notar quão mal formada é nossa intelectualidade, que nos ensina Rousseau, Marx, Bourdier, Foucault, mas nunca leu um gigante como Burke nem cita que existe um autor como ele. Um livro indispensável.
24 people found this helpful
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Yan
5.0 out of 5 stars Obra Prima
Reviewed in Brazil on November 26, 2017
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Grande clássico do conservadorismo, que nas escolas passa batido ou é confundido com mero reacionarismo. A tão idealizada pela esquerda moderna Revolução Francesa, que ascendeu um governo mais autoritário e mais belicoso (Napoleão), é desconstruida pelo brilhante autor.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars very beauty
Reviewed in India on April 17, 2018
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very beauty
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