Beginning with a discussion of familiar images of the French Revolution, garnered from Dickens, Baroness Orczy, and Tolstoy, as well as the legends of let them eat cake, and tricolours, Doyle leads the reader to the realization that we are still living with developments and consequences of the French Revolution such as decimalization, and the whole ideology of human rights. Continuing with a brief survey of the old regime and how it collapsed, Doyle continues to ellucidate how the revolution happened: why did the revolutionaries quarrel with the king, the church and the rest of Europe, why this produced Terror, and finally how it accomplished rule by a general. The revolution destroyed the age-old cultural, institutional and social structures in France and beyond. This book looks at how the ancien regime became ancien as well as examining cases in which achievement failed to match ambition. Doyle explores the legacy of the revolution in the form of rationality in public affairs and responsible government, and finishes his examination of the revolution with a discussion of why it has been so controversial.

道尔从讨论人们熟悉的法国大革命形象开始，这些形象来自狄更斯、奥奇男爵夫人和托尔斯泰，以及让他们吃蛋糕和三色旗的传说，他引导读者认识到，我们仍然生活在法国大革命的发展和后果中，如十进制化和整个人权的意识形态。在继续对旧政权及其如何崩溃进行简要调查后，道尔继续阐明革命是如何发生的：为什么革命者与国王、教会和欧洲其他国家发生争吵，为什么会产生恐怖，以及最后如何完成将军的统治。革命摧毁了法国和其他国家古老的文化、制度和社会结构。本书探讨了古政权是如何成为古人的，并研究了成就与野心不符的案例。多伊尔探讨了革命在公共事务中的理性和负责任的政府方面的遗产，并在结束对革命的研究时讨论了它为什么会引起如此大的争议。