Taine became, upon reading ‘On the Origins of the Species’ a convinced Darwinian and was, the year after Darwin, honored by the University of Oxford with the title of doctor honoris causa in jure civili for his ‘History of English Literature’.  Taine was not a methodical ideologist creating a system.  He did not defend any particular creed or current.  He was considered some kind of positivist but he did not consider himself as belonging to any particular school.

The 6 volumes of “Les Origines de la France Contemporaine” appeared one after the other in Paris between 1875 and 1893.  They were translated into English and published in New York soon afterwards.  They were also translated into German.  Taine’s direct views displeased many in France, as the Royalists, the bonapartist and the Socialists felt hurt.  Still, the first edition of Volume II of “Le régime moderne” published by Hachette in 1894 indicated that “L’ANCIEN regime” at that time had been printed in 18 editions, “La Révolution” volume I in 17 editions, volume II in 16 editions and volume III in 13 editions.  “Le régime moderne” volume I had been printed in only 8 editions.  Photographic reprints appeared in the us in 1932 and 1962.

Taine’s description and analysis of events in France between 1750 and 1870 are, as you will see colorful, lucid, and sometimes intense.  His style might today appear dated since he writes in rather long sentences, using parables to drive his points firmly home.  His books were widely read in academic circles and therefore influenced a great many political students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Lenin, who came to Paris around 1906, might well have profited by Taine’s analysis.  Hitler is also likely to have profited by his insights.  Lenin was like so many other socialists of his day a great admirer of Robespierre and his party and would undoubtedly have tried to find out how Robespierre got into power and why he lost his hold on France the way he did.  Part of Taine’s art was to place himself into the place of the different people and parties who took part in the great events.  When pretends to speak for the Jacobins, it so convincingly done, that it is hard to know whether he speaks on ‘their’ behalf or whether he is, in fact, quoting one of them.

Taine, like the Napoleon he described, believed that in order to understand people you are aided if you try to imagine yourself in their place.  This procedure, as well as his painstaking research, make his descriptions of the violent events of the past ring true.

Taine knew and described the evil inherent in human nature and in the crowd.  His warnings and explanations did not prevent Europe from repeating the mistakes of the past.  The 20th century saw a replay of the French Revolution repeated in all its horror when Lenin, Mao, Hoxa, and Pol Pot followed the its script and when Stalin and Hitler made good use of Napoleon’s example.