This 948-page story of the French Revolution focuses not only the conditions of the desperate majority in pre-revolutionary France, but shows how the real drivers of the revolution were elites who disagreed on how best to improve the state. Schama weaves together the personal experiences of people from all parts of society with larger events in his "argument in the form of a story." Larger themes include infatuation with modernity, and visions of liberty drowning in spirals of hunger, terror, and death. Each cycle of renewal is replaced by more rage and violence, while these never-ending changes impoverish the tradespeople and workers. Panic over conspiracies and plots culminate in the state taking back the power of violence it had relinquished to the people. Alfred A. Knopf. 1989. Hb, Dj. USED. $15.00