ISBN French Revolution and What Went Wrong book History English 592 pages

I spent part of my adult life falling asleep trying to read Burke's 'Reflections on the Revolution in France', advancing at a pace of 10 pages every 2 years and three months (two pages are enough to induce coma). This book does the same job, but is so much fun to read. The author, visibly writes with an attitude.A lot of myths being debunked. You will never hear celebrations of July 14 without a smirk.1) By the time the Bastille took place, France had, after a process that lasted about two years, become a constitutional monarchy like England -- which is what exactly the majority of the players wanted. But it was a minority of crazed zealots who pushed further (a real minority rule).2) After the celebrated 'Bastille day' and the intervening regime, France went through 70 years of dictatorship/Monarchy. Why on earth are we celebrating THAT revolution?3) The Revolution was patently anti-science, not pro-science.4) The Revolutionary repressed free speech (while shouting 'Liberté') when the Royals were much, much more lenient with the banned books and their authors. Also, for democracy: they guillotined people because he had voted in favor of a constitutional monarcy.My lesson: revolutions don't work; transformation needs to be slow and cumulative. (Note: The American revolution was not a revolution.)