Good story, well told.

I had been wanting to read this book for several years. For a reader interested in Burke's philosophy, and interested in Burke as a progenitor of modern conservativism, the book is definitely worthwhile, but you will encounter much material that can be scanned over, and is probably only of interest to students of that era's history. Slightly similar experience to reading Kapital Volume I -- you only want to read so much wheat prices, or (with Burke) how the National Assembly decided to effect a new, rational determination of France's political divisions.

A classic, perhaps indeed the single classic, of conservative political thought, this book beautifully clarified a central difference between organically conservative Britain & the more radically ideological European Continent. In addition to Burke's original text, this edition, which I recommend, benefits from a good intro & from 4 remarkable essays by modern scholars. ( )

An unofficial name for this could be "The Social Contract: A Critique" or "Rosseau Part 2". Edmund Burke's famous treatise is a refutation of the "Rights of Man" declaration, and the populist democracy that emerged in France and eventually turned into anarchy followed by dictatorship.

A common misconception among the laypeople is that Burke's Reflections is a defense of aristocracy. Burke actually championed the cause of the American Revolutionaries during the War of 1776, and actually was disowned by Thomas Jefferson (who had participated in drafting the Rights of Man declaration) for his work. Burke's critique of the French Revolution was not a defense of aristocracy, but a refutation of universal rights. It was entirely consistent of him to support the American revolution because the American revolution was a reaction against the infringement of the rights of Englishmen in America enshrined (as William Blackstone stated in his Commentaries) in Engish Common Law. The French system of government had always been autocratic, on the other hand and entirely arbitrary, and the introduction of democratic principles and rule of law to a populace with no concept of the responsibilities that those rights entailed was a recipe for disaster.

Again, highly recommended for political science undergraduates. Otherwise unbearably dry for most people. ( )

...Burke warned of the dangers of an abstract democracy compared to the smooth operation of a hereditary aristocracy. He argued against the devaluation of tradition and religion he believed would result from the political reconstruction. When the Revolution developed in the violent way that Burke had anticipated, the man who had been treated first as an alarmist was seen as a prophet. -- COL ( )

Not nearly what I was expecting! ( )