Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

Alexis de Tocqueville compares with disinterested honesty 19th century Democracy, especially American democracy, with the European aristocracies that preceded it. In this two-volume work, he outlines both the benefits and dangers of both social orders. With the certain knowledge that the age of the aristocracy is passed, de Tocqueville writes with the ultimate hope that his book will serve as a warning to citizens under democratic rule, that they will not succumb to the apathy that is their greatest enemy, which would allow the government to pursue its natural tendency to metastasize into the private realm of citizen, governing an ever greater number of minutiae in the personal lives of its subjects, and annulling the freedom that was originally sought in creating a democracy… (mer)

Alexis de Tocqueville was a prominent French politician and writer in the middle part of the 19th century, writing famous works on the Ancien (i.e. pre-1789) Regime in his country, and on American democracy. These are his recollections of the famous revolutionary events of 1848, primarily in France, but also elsewhere in Europe. De Tocqueville is a sharp observer of his political allies and adversaries, with a keen eye for political movements and the mechanics of constitutional reform. He is a moderate, pragmatic Republican during the revolution of 1848 which saw the demise of the very last French king, Louis-Philippe. His descriptions of various waves of revolutionary events in February, May and June 1848 come across as quite confusing and it was often hard to see who exactly among the competing factions in the National Assembly was in the ascendancy or not - the overwhelming impression one gets is of chaos and members of factions not really having a clear idea what their actual political aims are, other an inchoate opposition to the prevailing rulers. There are gaps in the narrative as de Tocqueville insists only on covering events he has personally witnessed, even at the expense of a sometimes somewhat incoherent story. He is worried by the rise of Louis Napoleon as President, sensing that he aims at proclaiming himself effective monarch, as indeed he does after the events of this book as Emperor Napoleon III (and arrests de Tocqueville at the same time, putting an end to the latter's political career). The last section of the book details de Tocqueville's experiences as Foreign Minister for a few months shortly before this time, negotiating with German states as Prussia comes to dominate amongst them; with Russian Emperor Nicholas I and with the Ottoman Empire. Interesting, but rather too detailed and as a first hand account inevitably does not give a rounded picture of events.… (mer)