The French Revolution: A Study in Democracy (1919)

"Nesta...concluded that the French Revolution was the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Illuminati." - Conspiracy Encyclopedia (2006) "Webster...directs...attention to the personal dramas of the Revolution, the characters of the chief actors, their intrigues and vices, their quarrels and their cruelties." - Uncertain Paths to Freedom (2000) "Conspiracy theorist Nesta Webster...identified European secret societies and Freemasonry...as the ferment behind the French Revolution." - Black Sun (2001) "I thank Nesta Webster for her writing on the French Revolution and World Revolution... Should be required reading in our high schools for insightful understanding of...who promotes this nonsense and how the promoters have gained control." - Good and Evil (2011) Was the French Revolution really a "Reign of Terror" perpetuated and organized by radical Socialists and possibly the Illuminati? In 1919, controversial historian Nesta Helen Webster (1876–1960) answered these questions and more in her famous and frequently cited book "The French Revolution: A Study in Democracy." In introducing her book Webster writes: "Now if we study carefully the course of the revolutionary movement we shall find that the role of the people is in the main passive; only on these great days of tumult do they play an active part. Between these outbreaks the fire of revolution smoulders, at moments almost flickers out, then suddenly for no apparent reason bursts again into flame, and it is only by long and patient search amongst contemporary documents that we can begin to understand the causes of these conflagrations. 'The popular Revolution,' said St. Just, 'was the surface of a volcano of extraneous conspiracies,' and consequently the actions of the people seen from the surface only can never be understood." The French Revolution was a period of social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789 and ending in 1799. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy; established a republic; catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil; and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon.