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The revolutionary movement that swept across Europe in 1948 ushered the history of that time into a new era, but historians have not yet concluded what era it entered. Tocqueville, the French political thinker, sociologist, and author of the famous book "The Old Regime and the Great Revolution" was a participant in the 1848 Revolution and was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Second Republic. He left this memoir about the revolution. It is not only a precious historical record, but also the most obvious manifestation of Tocqueville's personality, reflecting a lesser-known aspect of his life - his political career.

"The Old Regime and the Revolution" is a classic research work on the French Revolution. In his book, Tocqueville conducted an incisive analysis of the causes and consequences of the French Revolution, thereby opening up a new way to study the old system, revealing the intrinsic connection between the old system and the Revolution, and touching on the fundamental issue of the fate of the French nation. Since the French Revolution in 1789, the study of the French Revolution has been a hot topic in world history research. Historians and political commentators of different eras have written books about this period of history, creating world famous works one after another, among which French historian Tocqueville's "The Old Regime and the Great Revolution" is particularly famous.

"The Old Regime and the Great Revolution" is a work by French historian Tocqueville. It discusses the French Revolution. The original feudal system collapsed due to corruption and unpopularity. However, the social unrest did not bring about the results expected by the revolutionary party. Both the rulers and the people were eventually swallowed up by mutual anger. The author conducts an in-depth study of documents, archives and historical events related to the French Revolution, and combines his understanding of freedom to answer the following questions: why the revolution first occurred in France; why the revolution was accelerated during the most prosperous period of the old system; why the centralization of power that emerged after the Great Revolution was a continuation of the old system, etc.

This is a "study of the French Revolution," not another history of the Revolution. In the book, Tocqueville tried to explain: Why is it that almost all of Europe has the same political system, and how do they collapse everywhere? Why did feudal privileges become more abhorrent to the French people than elsewhere? Why is the centralized administrative system a system of the Old Regime and not a creation of the Revolution or the Empire? Why were people in 18th-century France more similar to each other than people in other countries, yet at the same time separate and indifferent to each other? Despite the continuous progress of civilization, why was the situation of French peasants in the 18th century sometimes even worse than that of the peasants in the 13th century? Why did French literati become the country's main political figures in the 18th century? Why do the French prefer reform first and freedom later? Why does the administrative revolution precede the political revolution? The period of Louis XVI was the most prosperous period of the old dynasty. How did this prosperity accelerate the revolution?

The main content of "The Old Regime and the Great Revolution" includes the polarized evaluations it endured when the Revolution broke out. The main and ultimate purpose of the Revolution was not, as people thought, to destroy religious power and weaken political power.