David A. Bell

David A. Bell is the Lapidus professor in the department of history at Princeton and the author of Shadows of Revolution: Reflections on France, Past and Present, among other books.

HistoryJanuary 24, 2019

Where Does Truth Fit into Democracy?

In modern democracies, who gets to determine what counts as truth—an elite of experts or the people as a whole?

David A. Bell
December 13, 2018

For Emmanuel Macron, How Did Things Get So Bad, So Fast?

The fault lies with both the French president himself and the political and cultural elite that formed him.

David A. Bell
August 29, 2018

The Afterlives of Charles de Gaulle

A new biography claims his vision was a stabilizing synthesis of France’s monarchical and republican political traditions. But was it?

David A. Bell
March 7, 2018

Waiting for Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment

The genre that Pinker’s latest book most closely resembles is not 18th-century philosophie but a TED Talk.

David A. Bell
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January 25, 2018

What Causes Some Cities to Become Sites of Revolution?

To understand the American and French revolutions, one must look not simply at their origins in the wider world but also at how particular environments could become crucibles of intense and rapid political change.

David A. Bell
World LeadersMay 9, 2017

What Can Emmanuel Macron Accomplish as France’s President?

The resentments that led a third of the electorate to vote for Le Pen are not going to disappear anytime soon.

David A. Bell
April 4, 2017

Le Pen’s Long Shadow

If you want to understand the wave of right-wing populism erupting in Europe and the United States, France is a good place to start.

David A. Bell
PoliticsDecember 22, 2016

Fake News Is Not the Real Media Threat We’re Facing

What the conservative media machine does is much more dangerous.

David A. Bell
BiographyNovember 2, 2016

Haiti’s Jacobin

A new biography explores the mysterious life and times of Toussaint Louverture.

David A. Bell
HistoryMay 27, 2015

Enlightened. Elitist. Undemocratic.

Has the EU followed a path first blazed by Napoleon?

David A. Bell

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David A. Bell

HistoryJanuary 24, 2019

In modern democracies, who gets to determine what counts as truth—an elite of experts or the people as a whole?

December 13, 2018

The fault lies with both the French president himself and the political and cultural elite that formed him.

August 29, 2018

A new biography claims his vision was a stabilizing synthesis of France’s monarchical and republican political traditions. But was it?

March 7, 2018

The genre that Pinker’s latest book most closely resembles is not 18th-century philosophie but a TED Talk.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

January 25, 2018

To understand the American and French revolutions, one must look not simply at their origins in the wider world but also at how particular environments could become crucibles of intense and rapid political change.

World LeadersMay 9, 2017

The resentments that led a third of the electorate to vote for Le Pen are not going to disappear anytime soon.

April 4, 2017

If you want to understand the wave of right-wing populism erupting in Europe and the United States, France is a good place to start.

PoliticsDecember 22, 2016

What the conservative media machine does is much more dangerous.

BiographyNovember 2, 2016

A new biography explores the mysterious life and times of Toussaint Louverture.

HistoryMay 27, 2015

Has the EU followed a path first blazed by Napoleon?