The Revolution's Final Appendix

With the real exception of Louis Philippe, all of our charismatic authority figures wind up wielding more power and have a greater reach than whatever ruler was in place prior to the revolution. You would be extremely hard-pressed to make the case that the former's political authority exceeded the latter's. Republicans don't just produce dictators, they produce powerful dictators. Next week we will take a large sweeping look back from the end of the revolution to the beginning of the revolution. Are revolutions horrendous nightmares to be avoided at all costs or are they vital lurches forward to be cherished and celebrated?