“The past is not alive to them the way it is to Georges; they do not remember—and thus do not see the reality of things. That reality is the dream Georges has come to embody: that a black man can… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“A crack shot and a great equestrian to boot, Saint-Georges had become an honorary member of the king’s guard—allowed to take the title of “chevalier,” essentially a knight—as a result of avenging a racist insult.” — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“At first, the Jacobin Club was not the most radical club. It was known for its lively, collegial debates and for attracting diverse and… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“energized and emboldened delegates of the Third Estate, the “99 percent”—in reality, closer to 96 percent—of the French population who paid the bulk of… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Suddenly Paris fashion-that bellwether for the French mind-had to be à l'Amérique: tailors manufactured "insurgent coats" and "lightning-conductor dresses" (in honor of Ben Franklin,… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“The way it had originally worked was that each of the three estates got an equal say: each had an equal number of “deputies”… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“The bitter irony was that the financial crisis had largely been caused by French support of the American patriots; in getting back at the… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Man is born free but is everywhere in chains,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract in 1762. A generation of crusading lawyers put… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“When they weren’t running meat—or rum—they worked as salt miners or piloted small boats along the coast. These highland Saint-Dominguans, along with more recent… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Unhappiness cannot but draw tighter the bonds which hold us fast to one another," General Dumas had written to Marie-Louise as he made his… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Wednesday, June 17, 1789, France went from a system where only the nobility and the church had power to a system where, at least… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“in 1788, he had become infatuated by the American republic and its spirit of “simplicity, goodness, and that dignity of man which is the… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Alex Dumas had the confidence that accompanies a life of physical exploits, along with an unwavering faith in the rightness of his actions that… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“This mulatto gentleman could powder and dress as he liked, however, because he was acknowledged to be the greatest swordsman in Europe. Over the… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“the concept, going back to the misty foundations of the nation, that France was the land of the free—that no one should be kept… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“Meanwhile, Napoleon’s younger brother, Lucien Bonaparte, had managed to get himself elected to the Council of Five Hundred—and was even made its president. The… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
“...the former King Louis XVI, who, after titles were abolished, was now simply called "Louis Capet" - a mocking reference to his distant ancestor… — Tom Reiss Copy Share Image
