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Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968
An essential history of the May 1968 upheaval in France—and how it changed the world. Prelude to Revolution is the indispensable study of May 1968. Generations have looked to this book for inspiration. Singer, who died in 2000, was widely considered the most adept interpreter of European politics for American audiences. He shows here how change happens—and why it is needed
504 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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392 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Singer
31 books3 followersDaniel Singer was a Polish-American socialist writer and journalist. He was best known for his articles for The Nation in the United States and for The Economist in Britain, serving for decades as a European correspondent for each magazine.
Gore Vidal described Singer as "one of the best, and certainly the sanest, interpreters of things European for American readers", with a "Balzacian eye for human detail." Mike Davis labelled Singer "the left's most brilliant arsonist", with a talent for "set[ting] ablaze whole forests of desiccated cliches".
Gore Vidal described Singer as "one of the best, and certainly the sanest, interpreters of things European for American readers", with a "Balzacian eye for human detail." Mike Davis labelled Singer "the left's most brilliant arsonist", with a talent for "set[ting] ablaze whole forests of desiccated cliches".
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 8, 2016
I have never really cared for the 60s student uprisings before, until I became attracted to the cover of this book. It depicted human figures holding up spanner on an A5 size cover. I immediately picked it up from the shelves and go through its contents. Suddenly, I learned about the events of May 1968 in France, its actors and the melancholic yet beautiful conclusion to this chapter of human history.
France in 1968 was under the control of Gaullist ideology. The General is worshiped like a dictator, even though he is elected democratically in one of the most egalitarian state among bourgeois democracies. Despite the affluence of many of its citizens, radical seeds are embedded deep within the psyche of the nation. Not surprising, since the country is the birthplace of the revolution that toppled down the deep-rooted monarchy, and also of an abortive communist revolution in Paris in 1871. Therefore, the rise of living standards mean nothing for the radicals who carried the torch of revolution. For them, the alienation of worker from their labors, and the rise of a consumer society akin to that of the Americans, are issues that can only be addressed through a thorough revolution of a society.
The ones leading the charge are the students. Both Communist and Anarchist ideologies held profound influence among the marchers who conquered the Latin quarters, where many of the country's major universities are located. They held pitched battles with the authorities to reclaim their universities from the latter, and to demand the release of several student leaders who were held in captivity. Suddenly, the student uprising evolved into a society-wide revolt against the Gaullist state machinery. Factories were shut down. Many governmental institutions were on standstill. France, or rather, the Gaullist state, was on the brink of collapse. Even the General himself nearly lost control of the situation. Luckily, for him and his cohorts, help come through the form of their supposed enemy.
The Communist Party of France, and its trade union associates, can be credited as being the real strikebreakers, and not the army or the police. It is they who discouraged the workers to not join the students, who they labelled as being 'spoiled bourgeois' who would later join their fathers' factories in being a part of the oppressive management. Singer believes that the Communist Party refused to support the striking students and workers simply because they are worried on losing their power within the party hierarchy. They inherited the Stalinist adoration for power of controlling affairs from above. Therefore, when a revolution occur spontaneously from below, the party apparatchiks view this as a threat to their own power. Besides, supporting the striker meant that they will lose their chance of winning places in the parliament (in Gaullist times, the People Assembly is nothing more than a rubber-stamping center). To appear as the forces of law and order, the Party ordered the workers to conduct an orderly retreat and to accept whatever concessions that are more reformist than revolutionary. Thus, the system is preserved, thanks to the action of its nominal enemy. The revolution, to paraphrase Trostky's words, lacked the engine to direct its steam. In the end, without organization from the party, the uprising died on its own, like a steam missing an engine.
In the final section of the book, Singer illustrates the bigger picture on the possibilities of the May 68 revolution, and its relationships with the larger world. It also ends with a picture of strikers marching hopefully even though they know that their chance of succeeding is close to nil, which is, for me, an apt impression of the struggle for social justice worldwide. In a world ruled by fear and ignorance, they barely had the chance.
France in 1968 was under the control of Gaullist ideology. The General is worshiped like a dictator, even though he is elected democratically in one of the most egalitarian state among bourgeois democracies. Despite the affluence of many of its citizens, radical seeds are embedded deep within the psyche of the nation. Not surprising, since the country is the birthplace of the revolution that toppled down the deep-rooted monarchy, and also of an abortive communist revolution in Paris in 1871. Therefore, the rise of living standards mean nothing for the radicals who carried the torch of revolution. For them, the alienation of worker from their labors, and the rise of a consumer society akin to that of the Americans, are issues that can only be addressed through a thorough revolution of a society.
The ones leading the charge are the students. Both Communist and Anarchist ideologies held profound influence among the marchers who conquered the Latin quarters, where many of the country's major universities are located. They held pitched battles with the authorities to reclaim their universities from the latter, and to demand the release of several student leaders who were held in captivity. Suddenly, the student uprising evolved into a society-wide revolt against the Gaullist state machinery. Factories were shut down. Many governmental institutions were on standstill. France, or rather, the Gaullist state, was on the brink of collapse. Even the General himself nearly lost control of the situation. Luckily, for him and his cohorts, help come through the form of their supposed enemy.
The Communist Party of France, and its trade union associates, can be credited as being the real strikebreakers, and not the army or the police. It is they who discouraged the workers to not join the students, who they labelled as being 'spoiled bourgeois' who would later join their fathers' factories in being a part of the oppressive management. Singer believes that the Communist Party refused to support the striking students and workers simply because they are worried on losing their power within the party hierarchy. They inherited the Stalinist adoration for power of controlling affairs from above. Therefore, when a revolution occur spontaneously from below, the party apparatchiks view this as a threat to their own power. Besides, supporting the striker meant that they will lose their chance of winning places in the parliament (in Gaullist times, the People Assembly is nothing more than a rubber-stamping center). To appear as the forces of law and order, the Party ordered the workers to conduct an orderly retreat and to accept whatever concessions that are more reformist than revolutionary. Thus, the system is preserved, thanks to the action of its nominal enemy. The revolution, to paraphrase Trostky's words, lacked the engine to direct its steam. In the end, without organization from the party, the uprising died on its own, like a steam missing an engine.
In the final section of the book, Singer illustrates the bigger picture on the possibilities of the May 68 revolution, and its relationships with the larger world. It also ends with a picture of strikers marching hopefully even though they know that their chance of succeeding is close to nil, which is, for me, an apt impression of the struggle for social justice worldwide. In a world ruled by fear and ignorance, they barely had the chance.
November 6, 2014
Absolutely brilliant history of May '68, so awesome I have trouble finding adjectives to describe it. To be shelved with the very best of Marxist historical work such as The 18th Brumaire and the History of the Russian Revolution. The post-Arab Spring, post-Occupy generation of revolutionary socialists will find an exceptionally clarifying book that resonates with much of their own experiences. Hard to recommend more highly.
September 8, 2022
An outstanding account of the French uprisings of May 1968 by one of the best analysts of his time; a book that is as good as a reader familiar with Daniel Singer (as I was) would expect it to be. What makes this book so useful is that it not only is a detailed account of the events themselves, and a careful explanation of the sequence of students then workers as they went into the streets, but an analysis of the events after they happened, embedded in a thorough understanding of the various political and social forces of France.
The book was written with a certain amount of optimism — the author was hopeful (of course not certain) that these events could be a prelude to greater challenges to capitalism (thus the book's title). Those hopes of course have not been borne out, but we are looking back at these events from a half-century later. The book was written in the months following those events, and we can't condemn the author for not having a crystal ball. None of us have one.
By far most of the book concerns the events themselves and a concrete analysis of them — the surprise of their happening, the extraordinary speed in which students and then workers began participating, the efforts of the Communist Party to hold back those participating and re-channel events back into electoral politics, the ability of the French establishment to gain control of the situation, and a deep and thorough analysis of the events and why various institutions (including the Communist Party) acted as they did and under what circumstances.
This book is well worth reading for anybody who wants to understand these events, one of the most important uprisings of a dramatic year.
The book was written with a certain amount of optimism — the author was hopeful (of course not certain) that these events could be a prelude to greater challenges to capitalism (thus the book's title). Those hopes of course have not been borne out, but we are looking back at these events from a half-century later. The book was written in the months following those events, and we can't condemn the author for not having a crystal ball. None of us have one.
By far most of the book concerns the events themselves and a concrete analysis of them — the surprise of their happening, the extraordinary speed in which students and then workers began participating, the efforts of the Communist Party to hold back those participating and re-channel events back into electoral politics, the ability of the French establishment to gain control of the situation, and a deep and thorough analysis of the events and why various institutions (including the Communist Party) acted as they did and under what circumstances.
This book is well worth reading for anybody who wants to understand these events, one of the most important uprisings of a dramatic year.
January 3, 2012
I would definitely recommend this book to any student active in the fight against the budget cuts at their local university or high school. Invaluable resource for everyone engaged in activism of this sort. It provides a blow-by-blow account of the entire situation, and is an indispensable piece of literature for radicals looking for strategy and tactics in what is shaping up to be a very volatile situation in this world-wide economic crisis. Learn from the past!
March 20, 2024
This is a tremendous book offering a firsthand account of the May 1968 student and worker revolt in Paris. More than that, this work offers a piercing Marxist analysis of the revolution and what it holds for the future.
As one review states, “If Marx had been living in Paris during May 1968, he might have written this book.” They are right.
One would assume that the analysis in Singer’s work no longer holds currency or relevance fifty years after its publication. One would be wrong.
This work is filled with gems: on the role of private property, the ability of students and professionals to launch a revolutionary and radical assault on capitalism and mass consumerism, and on the enduring relevance of Marxist theories of labour and alienation and so much more.
As one review states, “If Marx had been living in Paris during May 1968, he might have written this book.” They are right.
One would assume that the analysis in Singer’s work no longer holds currency or relevance fifty years after its publication. One would be wrong.
This work is filled with gems: on the role of private property, the ability of students and professionals to launch a revolutionary and radical assault on capitalism and mass consumerism, and on the enduring relevance of Marxist theories of labour and alienation and so much more.
That in most countries five per cent of the population owns three quarters of a nation's wealth, that everything is designed to preserve the interests of this minority, that the owners of capital, their associates, and their servants determine the rhythm of our work, shape our lives, condition the pattern of our behavior — this hardly concealed dictatorship is taken for granted and treated as a realm of freedom. Any outburst against this repressive society is branded as violence.
A gate broken at the London School of Economics, a lecture interrupted at the Sorbonne, a building occupied at Columbia, let alone a factory occupied by the workers- these are subjects for hysterical headlines and bouts of indignation. Violence is not measured by the amount of force used or the degree of coercion exercised. It is measured by its conformity to the law. It is virtue if it helps to prop up the established order, and a horrible vice when directed against it.
Pick up your paper, switch on your television set, and you will find countless examples of such double standards.
September 19, 2022
My favorite of my summer reads. I was in high school at the time of “May 68”, and I distinctly remember every day at breakfast listening to the news on the radio, and each day the numbers of French workers reported as participating in what became a nationwide general strike kept growing, and my brother and I cheering them on. Singer brings the events alive and draws out their meaning insofar as that could be seen when this was written just a couple of years later. He effectively demolishes the French Communist Party for its role in holding back the eruption of revolutionary consciousness and action. He also anticipates the later “PMC” debate (Professional and Managerial Class) in discussing the material changes in the French economy in the decades leading up to these events, and speculates on their long-term implication. Similar to the remembrance of Barbara Ehrenreich by Gabriel Winant in n+1, Singer, writing much earlier (in 1970) connects the themes of alienation and lack of control and meaning in work which fueled not only the student rebellions which initially sparked these events, but also fueled the radicalization and militance of the young workers who were the first to go out in support of the students, with the historic emancipatory currents in the European working class.
November 23, 2024
During the long capitalist boom after the Second World War, as the living standards of workers in the imperialist core improved continuously, many leftists convinced themselves that socialist revolution had receded from the horizon of history. May 1968 in France shattered that illusion: What started with a student rebellion inspired a general strike of 10 million workers.
This book, by the Paris correspondent of The Economist and The Nation, looks a the rebellion from up close. I was hoping for the 1968 equivalent to John Reed's "Ten Days that Shook the World," with an American journalist observing a European revolution.
The first third of the book was great, but the rest was a slog. Daniel Singer spends hundreds of pages trying to theorize the potential for socialist revolution in the West. He makes a number of fascinating points, but since he was never a militant, his theories are disconnected from any kind of political practice and therefore fundamentally unscientific. It's easy for an isolated writer to call for Trotskyists and Maoists to unite — it's much harder to formulate a synthesis (which I doubt is possible). With no responsibility in the movement, Singer had no way to test his elaborate theories.
This book, by the Paris correspondent of The Economist and The Nation, looks a the rebellion from up close. I was hoping for the 1968 equivalent to John Reed's "Ten Days that Shook the World," with an American journalist observing a European revolution.
The first third of the book was great, but the rest was a slog. Daniel Singer spends hundreds of pages trying to theorize the potential for socialist revolution in the West. He makes a number of fascinating points, but since he was never a militant, his theories are disconnected from any kind of political practice and therefore fundamentally unscientific. It's easy for an isolated writer to call for Trotskyists and Maoists to unite — it's much harder to formulate a synthesis (which I doubt is possible). With no responsibility in the movement, Singer had no way to test his elaborate theories.
October 15, 2014
An absolutely brilliant book.
The best documentation of the French May.
One of the best Marxist histories I've read.
But not just that. One of the strengths of this book is that before and after it has dealt in detail with the events of May, it deals in depth with questions of the state, Stalinism, social-democracy, freedom, strategy and others.
A must-read, couldn't recommend it anymore.
The best documentation of the French May.
One of the best Marxist histories I've read.
But not just that. One of the strengths of this book is that before and after it has dealt in detail with the events of May, it deals in depth with questions of the state, Stalinism, social-democracy, freedom, strategy and others.
A must-read, couldn't recommend it anymore.
October 25, 2009
I was looking for more of a history of the movement. All of the theory got a little boring after a while. The second chapter, where he talked about exactly what happened during May with the workers and the students, was the only part that was really worth it. This book could have been wrapped up a hundred pages earlier. It started to feel like more of a chore to read than anything else.
July 26, 2012
Another great resource, well-written and accessible to anyone interested in the subject. I am only listing here on goodreads those books of the many books, articles and other resources that had a great impact on my novel about 1968 Berkeley and Paris, A Time to Cast Away Stones.
September 13, 2013
fantastic book and still extremely relevant!
April 18, 2017
The first 2/3s, about the events leading up to, through and after May 1968, were vivid and fascinating. It was amazing to read about the debates about tactics and strategy between students, labor unions and the communist party, and the surprising roles they took.
The last third where he took up the perch of Marxist foot soilder and gave his opinions on how to bring about a future revolution was interesting enough, and he clearly is a smart person with a deep understanding of the issues and heartfelt opinions about bringing about change, but it felt superfluous on the heels of the actual events he spent 300+ pages describing.
Even with the drag at the end where he tossed aside his historian hat for a sociologist beret, it still was a wonderful book that dove in to a time in recent history I realize now I knew very little about.
The last third where he took up the perch of Marxist foot soilder and gave his opinions on how to bring about a future revolution was interesting enough, and he clearly is a smart person with a deep understanding of the issues and heartfelt opinions about bringing about change, but it felt superfluous on the heels of the actual events he spent 300+ pages describing.
Even with the drag at the end where he tossed aside his historian hat for a sociologist beret, it still was a wonderful book that dove in to a time in recent history I realize now I knew very little about.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews