An authoritative introduction to the biggest, and the last, of the cycle of popular revolutions in western Europe that began in 1789. The Parisians, reeling from French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the German siege of Paris that ensued, set up their own interim government in opposition to the National Assembly at Versailles. The short-lived Commune and its subsequent repression were important enough in their own right; but they cast an even longer shadow. In his stirring account, Robert Tombs sets these tumultuous events in their political and social context, and considers their long-term significance for both France and Europe.