Pierre Rosanvallon is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History of Politics at the Collège deFrance.

In this unique synthesis of political theory and social history, Pierre Rosanvallon gives us a masterful interpretation of the French political experience from the Revolution to the present. He explores the tension between the Jacobin tradition, with its deep suspicion of civil society as partial and divisive, and the emergence in modern France of a robust associational life. More than a brilliant analysis of French politics and society, this book is a rich meditation on the theory and practice of democracy, past and present.

Pierre Rosanvallon is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History of Politics at the Collège deFrance.

In this unique synthesis of political theory and social history, Pierre Rosanvallon gives us a masterful interpretation of the French political experience from the Revolution to the present. He explores the tension between the Jacobin tradition, with its deep suspicion of civil society as partial and divisive, and the emergence in modern France of a robust associational life. More than a brilliant analysis of French politics and society, this book is a rich meditation on the theory and practice of democracy, past and present.

Pierre Rosanvallon is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History of Politics at the Collège deFrance.

In this unique synthesis of political theory and social history, Pierre Rosanvallon gives us a masterful interpretation of the French political experience from the Revolution to the present. He explores the tension between the Jacobin tradition, with its deep suspicion of civil society as partial and divisive, and the emergence in modern France of a robust associational life. More than a brilliant analysis of French politics and society, this book is a rich meditation on the theory and practice of democracy, past and present.