Member: ThomasCWilliams

CollectionsYour library (590), Currently reading (36), All collections (590)

Reviews94 reviews

TagsFreethought (46), Freethinker (42), Thomas Jefferson (33), Ideologues (26), History (25), Ideology (23), Natural Law (22), Volney (21), Joel Barlow (20), Law of Nature and Nations (19) — see all tags

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About me"Politics is like the human body, beautiful when viewed from the outside, but if you open it up and look inside, it's disgusting." -- Volney, French philosopher and parliamentarian (1757-1820)

I'm an American living in France for more than two decades; got a job in the Political Section of the U.S. Embassy in Paris three months before they started flying airplanes into buildings...

Way back in the mid-1990s Jacques Chirac, then-President of the 5th Republic, tried to outlaw use of the English language in France. That Orwellian attempt to control the words the people could use gave me an idea for a novel. After many years of fitful travail here's the result...

We Live in a World of Unexpected Big Events

English-Turn, Détour-Anglois isn’t just another Alternate History novel. It’s a metaphor for the modern day—Clash of Civilizations. Religious Conflict. The Rise of Capitalism, Democracies and Free Trade. The Emergence of the Arab Spring—all these contemporary events are folded into a single mind-warping history-changing epic adventure:

New Orleans, 1802: Queen Marcella, a mixed-blood voodoo priestess, finds herself swept into a hurricane vortex of international intrigue, personal ambition and religious strife as Volney, an agoraphobic French revolutionary, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Premier Consul of the French Republic, challenge Thomas Jefferson for control of North America.

Empires Rise if Government Allows Enlightened Self-Interest to Flourish

In the early days of the French Revolution, Constantin-Francois Volney, a member of the first National Assembly and friend of Thomas Jefferson, published Ruins of Empires, a post-Enlightenment review of human history. The book’s central premise, noted above, represents not only a refutation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract—and hence Socialism—but also provides the basis for a solution to the world’s enduring religious conflicts. Jefferson liked the book so much he translated it into English. But he also insisted on complete anonymity due to the book’s controversial religious content. This little known but well-documented fact becomes the fulcrum event of the English-Turn story—the slight tweak to historical events that provokes Napoleon Bonaparte to sail to New Orleans and change the destiny of the world.

The ebook version is now available on Amazon. A paperback version is available at:

https://www.createspace.com/3663571

Keep an eye open too for my next novel—a completely different story which, I promise, will have no equivalent in the marketplace.

About my libraryOver the years I've gathered a rather significant collection of works by the French philosopher and parliamentarian C.F. Volney. My library includes multiple editions of Thomas Jefferson's translation of Volney's most famous book, Ruins of Empires (Les Ruines). If you'd like some advice about buying a copy of the Jefferson translation just drop me a line.

ABOUT VOLNEY’S RUINS OF EMPIRES

Volney’s Ruins is a book of general principles. It asks the question: is there not a universal principle that explains the rise and fall of empires? Volney’s answer—empires rise if the government allows enlightened self-interest to flourish—represents not only a refutation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract. It also explains human history during the 200+ years since the book's publication: from the rise of the United States, to the fall of the Soviet Union, to the recent emergence of the Arab Spring.

Thomas Jefferson liked Volney's Ruins so much he secretely translated it into English. He saw the book as a means to teach future generations about the Enlightenment-based principles upon which the United States was founded. According to evidence discovered by Gilbert Chinard (1923), Jefferson was responsible for translating the first 20 chapters of Volney's Ruins, while Joel Barlow translated the final 4 chapters. Indeed, the first edition of the so-called Jefferson-Barlow translation, published in Paris by Levrault in 1802, is divided into two volumes: chapters 1-20 and chapters 21-24—an implicit recognition of the work done by two different translators.

Other than Jefferson, Volney's Ruins has had a significant influence on personalities as diverse as Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Thomas Cole, Mary Shelley and William Blake (see my Tags for more).

FIVE GENERAL RULES TO PURCHASE A JEFFERSON-BARLOW TRANSLATION

(1) The first Jefferson-Barlow edition was published in Paris by Levrault in 1802. Hence, you needn't bother with English language translations published before that date. The first US edition was published by Dixon and Sickles of New York in 1828. (Here are two examples of what NOT to buy: James Lyon, Philadelphia, 1799 and William Davies, NY, 1796. To my knowledge, there is only one non-Jefferson-Barlow translation published in the US post-1802: see tag "S. Shaw" for more details.)

(2) Beware of editions published in the UK: 99 percent are not the Jefferson-Barlow translation. If you see the word "survey" in the title, that is a clear indication the book was published in the UK and is NOT a Jefferson-Barlow translation. (To my knowledge, there is only one Jefferson-Barlow edition published in the UK: see tag "Hood & Cuthell" for more details.) In general, it's best to look for US editions post-1802.

(3) If the title page includes the phrase "translated under the inspection of the author," this is the Jefferson-Barlow translation.

(4) The Acid Test: turn to the Invocation: the first sentence should read: "Hail solitary ruins, holy sepulchres and silent walls! you I invoke; to you I address my prayer!" This is the Jefferson-Barlow translation.

(5) If you still want confirmation, go to Gutenberg.org. They have a free electronic copy of the (unacknowledged) Jefferson-Barlow translation for your comparison:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1397

TAGS LINKED TO PUBLISHERS

If you think you have found a Jefferson-Barlow edition you might like to purchase, note the name of the publisher, and then click on the "see all tags" tab (above) or the link below. I have listed all the names of the Jefferson-Barlow publishers during the years 1802-1991.

Click on the Tag of the Publisher you are interested in: each Book Review contains comments which may be of use in making your purchase.

http://www.librarything.com/tags/ThomasCWilliams

GroupsAmazon's Kindle, American Civil War, American History, American Revolution & Founding Fathers History, Classically Liberal, Crescent City Connection, Diplomatic History, En français, Historical Fiction, History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture —show all groups, History Fans, History of the Book, History: On learning from and writing history, I Survived the Great Vowel Shift, Le Salon du peuple pour le peuple, Military History, Social science, Time Travel, Alternate Histories and Parallel Worlds, What Are You Reading Now?

Favorite authorsJoel Barlow, P. J. G. Cabanis, comte Antoine Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy, Abraham Lincoln, Jean-Baptiste Say, Volney, C. F. Volney, M Volney, C.-F Volney (Shared favorites)

VenuesFavorites

Favorite bookstoresLe Tiers Mythe, Marine Voyage

Favorite librariesLibrary of the American Philosophical Society

Homepagehttp://www.createspace.com/3663571

Real nameThomas Christian Williams

LocationParis, France

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/ThomasCWilliams (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/ThomasCWilliams (library)

Member sinceMar 14, 2009

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