From the author of The Embarrassment of Riches, at present teaching at Harvard, this new history of the French Revolution shows France infatuated with novelty and technology and in the midst of dramatic economic change. At the heart of the account is the transformation from subjects to citizens. They are lawyers, priests, professional men and even nobles with a faith that they can make a new France. But this euphoric vision turns sour. This work marks a return to the historical tradition of the epic narrative.