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Francois-Noel Babeuf: The Marxist Before Marx

The French Revolution produced a parade of fascinating characters, many of them deranged by power and vampire-like in their quest for blood. One of the period’s lesser-known figures was Gracchus Babeuf, whose ideas were shelved with his death in 1797 only to reappear decades later in the writings of Karl Marx. Babeuf was, as the…

Olympe de Gouges, Heroine of the French Revolution
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Olympe de Gouges, Heroine of the French Revolution

Despite the tendency of French historians to depict the events of 1789-1799 in a more favorable light than they deserve, heroes of the ghastly French Revolution are few in number. Hundreds of thousands of people perished in a decade-long spasm of violence, tyranny, hyperinflation, and war—with precious little to show for it. Britain’s Glorious Revolution…