'To make a revolution is to subvert the ancient state of our country;
and no common reasons are called for to justify so violent a
proceeding'
Burke's seminal work was written during the early months of the French
Revolution, and it predicted with uncanny accuracy many of its worst
excesses, including the Reign of Terror. A scathing attack on the
revolution's attitudes to existing institutions, property and religion,
it makes a cogent case for upholding inherited rights and established
customs, argues for piecemeal reform rather than revolutionary change -
and deplores the influence Burke feared the revolution might have in
Britain. Reflections on the Revolution in France is now widely
regarded as a classic statement of conservative political thought, and
is one of the eighteenth century's great works of political rhetoric.
Conor Cruise O'Brien's introduction examines the contemporary political
situation in England and Ireland and its influence on Burke's point of
view. He highlights Burke's brilliant grasp of social and political
forces and discusses why the book has remained so significant for over
two centuries.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of
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