Vingt-cinq ans de bibliographie

Enlightenment and revolution. These two concepts, by their liaison, seem to characterize the phenomenon which illustrates, primarily in France, the emergence of a new society from the , Ancien Régime '. In opposition to the Anglo-Saxon world, which appears to have opened the way, and to other European countries which followed the movement, France experienced, under Louis XV, an intellectual transformation which has been considered to be the cause of political, social and economic movements developed at the end of the 18th century. In fact, this decisive evolution coincided with other elements, which brought about a more crucial situation, such as repeated abortive attemps at reform, survival of the irrational and even of the mystical, unprecedented solidarity between the élite and the masses, transference of sentiment etc. The Revolution, daughter of Enligh¬ tenment, denied at certain times the new way of thinking. Paradoxically, following an era of tolerance, cosmopolitanism, optimism and prosperity, there began a period of violence, terror, war and nationalism.Trenard Louis. Vingt-cinq ans de bibliographie. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°6, 1974. Lumières et Révolution. pp. 24-43