Reflections on the Revolution in France cover art

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Reflections on the Revolution in France

By: Edmund Burke
Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". As a Christian - he was not a man of the Enlightenment - Burke knew religion to be man’s greatest good and established order to be a fundamental pillar of civilization.

Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world. Said Russell Kirk, "The Reflections must be read by anyone who wishes to understand the great controversies of modern politics."

Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) became a member of Parliament in 1765. He championed the unpopular cause of Catholic emancipation and a great part of his career became dedicated to the problem of India. The French Revolution prompted one of his best-known works, Reflections on the Revolution in France.

Public Domain (P)1990 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
France Philosophy Political Science French Revolution Inspiring
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Rights of Man cover art
Thus Spoke Zarathustra cover art
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful cover art
Leviathan cover art
The Rights of Man cover art
Politics cover art
The Law cover art
The City of God cover art
A Political Philosophy cover art
Whatever Happened to Tradition? cover art
Drift cover art
Why Liberalism Failed cover art
The Red and the Black cover art
How to Be a Conservative cover art
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice cover art
Conservatism cover art

Critic reviews

"Burke’s views are as pertinent today as they were 200 years ago. His comments and criticisms of the French Revolution can be applied to 20th-century revolutions. It is interesting that his reflections are echoed by so many revisionist French Revolution historians in the past several years." (Professor Jeanne A. Ojala, University of Utah)

What listeners say about Reflections on the Revolution in France

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Profitably balances the Rights of Man

An important read for any English-person - whatever their race, and for anyone wishing to consider the balances between personal liberty and responsibilities, and institutional evolution and revolution. By reflecting on the first French Revolution, the book provides practical objection to, and balances the ideas of, The Rights of Man.

The listen is spoilt by the narrator's inappropriate, overly pompous, narrative style (he likely is not using his natural style) at least his diction is clear.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The wisdom of experience vs the arrogance of youth

Honour thy father and mother; you are not as clever as you think you are!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent production - the perfect narrator!

I actually thought that I had bought this audiobook along with the e-book on Amazon, and couldn't work out why I hadn't been charged... until I realised that Audible was actually offering this book free with membership, so this was an additional bonus.

I have tried to read this book several times over the years, and have given up every time due to the density of the text. Having this audiobook version, plus the e-book to follow along with (and to stop the audio and read it visually, and think about the ideas), was a great help for a text which is ornate, expressing at times difficult or subtle concepts, and full of clauses. And the narrator was the perfect choice for this particular book - I rather fancied that it was Edmund Burke himself giving me his views in his imperious, exact tone, and it helped make the convoluted style of the book more palatable.

So yes, this production is highly recommended as a way of digesting what is considered to be a classic text.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book and reading

Edmund Burke was an 18th century politician and philosopher and his most famous book is "Reflections on the Revolution in France". While many of the politicians and philosophers around Burke praised the French revolution, Burke condemned it in this book. The French revolutionaries were largely composed of people who had abstract ideas about the way people ought to behave that they were willing to impose by force and destroy the rule of law in the process. The regime they were throwing out was not tyrannical, rather the king was willing to make reforms. Burke was largely correct in his assessment and makes this argument at great length with great eloquence. Burke was condemned as a reactionary by many despite the fact that he had helped to bring about many liberal reforms and pursued the impeachement of Warren Hastings, the tyrranical head of the East India company. Apparently being willing to sanction violence and the destruction of the rule of law is required to be an enlightened political thinker. It is worth your while to listen to the book if you are interested in political philosophy or the French revolution.

Bernard Mayes reads the book clearly and with good emphasis.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful