The Paris Commune was the biggest and last popular revolution in western Europe - ending the cycle of revolutions that started in 1789.The Parisians, reeling from defeat in the Franco-Prussian War set up their own revolutionary administration.Government troops eventually retook the city and took a terrible revenge: thousands died in the bloodbath that followed.The short-lived Commune and its repression cast a long shadow.It exposed deep divisions in French society and became a potent inspiration for the radical left.This stirring new study written with great zest, and a vivid sense of time and place lets the reader experience these tumultuous events at first hand and provides a comprehensive synthesis of recent research in both French and English.