Reflections on the Revolution in France

Edmund Burke was a statesman and philosopher who favored gradual reform over revolution. Arguing that the ideology behind the French Revolution was too ephemeral, he predicted a disastrous outcome. Well regarded by the liberals of his day for his support of constitutional limitations on sovereign authority, his condemnation of religious persecution, and his sympathy for the grievances of the American colonists, Burke also gained the respect of conservatives when he published his “Reflections on the Revolution in France” in 1790.