Sparks Commentary

Many pirate movies take place in this general time period, and so do many history movies I grew up on pirate movies like “Treasure Island,” ...

“Do you hear in the fields The howling of those fearsome soldiers? They are coming into your midst To slit the throats of your sons and con...

The eighteenth century was a crucial period for the  British Empire . It saw the birth of the “Kingdom of Great Britain” itself , in the 17...

“ L’état, c’est moi. ” (“I am the State.”) – A line attributed to King Louis XIV of France – a line that he may or may not have actually sa...

“The French people solemnly proclaim their attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Dec...

I’ve read  Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” itself  in the original French . Thus, you might expect me to be something of a “fan” of this wo...

Voltaire and Rousseau disagreed with each other on many issues. Nonetheless, they do have at least one thing in common, which is that they w...

“If War should break out between France and Great Britain, during the continuance of the present War between the United States and England...

“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. H...

“The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, 'This is mine,' and found people simple eno...

" Qu'ils mangent de la brioche ." ("Let them eat cakes.") - The infamous Marie Antoinette line that Marie Antoinette...

"There is therefore a purely civil profession of faith of which the Sovereign should fix the articles, not exactly as religious dogma...

" Glory is fleeting , but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte He was the ruler of  France , but learned French as a...