Book Review—Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions by Dr. Miguel A. Faria. Reviewed by Dr. Russell L Blaylock  

Another much needed, incredible book by Dr. Miguel A. Faria—Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions (December 2024)—has been published.  I not only enjoy reading Dr. Faria’s books for pleasure, but I always learn a great deal.[1-6] His latest book is no exception.  I have always told people that to understand our contemporary times—that is, political, social and cultural events—one must understand both the American founding and the French Revolution. Dr. Faria provides the reader with a clear and eloquent narrative of the major issues under discussion during the American Revolution and the fact that the founders were brilliant men of deep understanding and knowledge, having studied all the major political and historical texts written throughout the ages. This includes the works of John Locke and Baron Montesquieu as well as the Greek and Roman classics. In this book he points out and dissects the important details and critical difference between the two revolutions.

From his book I have come to appreciate the critical role played by Alexander Hamilton in the design of the new government as well as the importance of the intellectual interaction of these great men and the difficulties they overcame to construct this brilliant enterprise.

As we witness the superficial nature of the idiocy gripping the modern-day brain-washed fools that are destroying the monuments of these great men, the founders of our constitutional republic, and the vapid nature of their “justification” for their action, we are left aghast. But, as we consider that our “educational institutions,” both at the lower educational and university levels, created a sea of empty minds devoid of historical knowledge and social and cultural understanding, we should not be surprised. The simple-minded claim of “racism” of these “uneducated children” ignores so many facets of this history that one is shocked at their ignorance. Dr. Faria does an excellent job of exploring the facets of knowledge required and brings much-needed understanding.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus admonishes us to always seek “knowledge” and “understanding.” These “knee jerk,” non-thinking fools seek neither, rather they are victims of indoctrination and propaganda by the hard left and a need for acceptance by the leftist cultural “crowd.” Many of the misconceptions and blank spaces in their education can be filled by this wonderful book.

Dr. Faria’s book is more than a history of these two eloquently told revolution. The book also gives an important civics lesson, especially as it regards the Electoral College. Of course, the hard left prefers a simple (social) democracy because the densely populated cities will be more amenable to the propaganda from the leftist demagogues as explained in Contrasting Revolutions. The left was taken aback and nearly speechless when President Trump won both the Electoral College and the popular vote in the 2024 election, and the wind was taken out of their sails.

The discussion of each of these founders in Faria’s book was incredible. James Monroe has a special place in my heart as the town where I was born and grew up was named after him—Monroe, Louisiana. Dr. Faria demonstrates the genius of each of these men. James Madison, who was one of my favorite founders, was no exception. Like Dr. Faria I was not a fan of John Quincy Adams as I was of his father, John Adams. Growing up in the South we understood the battle between the industrialized North and the agrarian South and the use of tariffs to subdue the South. This later episode in American history is chronicled in another wonderful book, The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths.[7]

The intelligence and bravery of the men who founded our country is not appreciated by many American youth, and Dr Faria elucidates this deficiency. These men and women risked their lives, risked imprisonment, and several of them had their homes burned and fortunes lost. They truly pledged and risked their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” in fighting a war to institute an enlightened government that achieved the individual freedoms and liberty that we have enjoyed to the present age.

Nevertheless, Dr. Faria emphasizes the important point that it is not government that provides us with our Natural Rights for freedom. As the founders knew, liberty was a gift from God. Good government is only a guarantor and protector of those God-given rights— life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In the next part of Contrasting Revolutions, Dr. Faria discusses, again in important details, the French Revolution and its significance. This flows in chronological order with a vital discussion of the major players and the revolutionary groups involved. The radical Jacobins infiltrated the Masonic lodges and used their link with the secret societies to spread their radical message and gain power. The fighting between the groups is well discussed. Ludwig von Mises, the Austrian economist, and his pupil, Friedrich Hayek, both observed that the most radical group always ascends to the top in any revolution.[8,9] It was no different in the French Revolution.

The most radical, the most blood thirsty, and the most powerful—in this instance the Mountain faction of the Jacobins—as always, ascended in power and the result was a sea of blood. No one was safe. As Dr. Faria well knows and states repeatedly, the revolution devoured its own. The radical youth today do not appreciate this cycle of death. They all envision they will rise of the top and not be its victims. A fool dreams, and the product of not knowing history, repeats itself.

Like Dr. Faria, I have studied the French Revolution, and his account is the most comprehensive and eloquently told, teaching us a number of important lessons. He enters the mind of the participants. Primarily in their thinking is attaining and maintaining power at whatever cost. We cannot help to see attempted replays of history to the present age. I’m delighted to read that Dr. Faria references one of my favorite authors, the Austrian historian Erik Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn.[11] In addition, in Miguel’s book, he discusses important personalities involved in the French Revolution. As I have stated, Dr. Faria enters the minds of the participants, which makes for a compelling read.

If you fail to read the sections in the appendix you will have missed some valuable jewels. Such as a discussion of the vital nature of the Judeo-Christian religion in Western civilization and how it resulted, not only in a civilized society but also gives us a reason for earthly existence with hope, and a moral system that transcends life. The French Revolution attempted to erase God from life and replace it with Reason. Reason, as we learn, can become a fool’s god, as Thomas Paine learned, and later regretted, writing his book, The Age of Reason (1794).

We also learn in Dr. Faria’s Contrasting Revolutions, why the communist system spent so much wasted effort attempting to deny the existence of God and erase the Judeo-Christian belief system. They, like all totalitarians, detested competition and wanted their own god to be the only one worshipped—the State. As with many of the youth today, I wondered originally why the great religions spent so much wealth building cathedrals and magnificent churches. After reading Paul Johnson’s book on the great cathedrals and why they were built, I understood.[11]  In Appendix E, Miguel adds important reasons to this and shatters some common myths associated with the great monuments of religion and culture in the Western world.

In Appendix F, Dr. Faria has a tremendous chapter on propaganda and discusses the USSR’s chief of disinformation in Romania, Ion Mihai Pacepa. Eventually, Pacepa defected to the West and wrote a great book, Disinformation (2013), explaining how propaganda worked and why it was successful in the West. The machinery of disinformation against Judeo-Christianity and the traditional values of the West are still in place, functioning from within in Western academia and from the outside propagated by authoritarian enemies of freedom.

Appendix G discusses how the left uses this disinformation and slander to destroy and silence their enemies as well as to curtail freedom. This was used extensively during the COVID “pandemic.” Appendix H discusses the attempt to destroy Western culture via the subversion of the popular culture. The final Appendix reviews an encyclopedia of revolutions and revolutionaries and points out the faults and shortcomings in such compilation compiled by biased researchers.

In each of the examples in the Appendix, Dr. Faria shows how what was learned during the French Revolution is being used today by radical activists and leftist revolutionaries. Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022), for instance, stated during his last days, “We owe our revolution to the French Revolution.” Read Dr. Faria’s book. The battle continues.

References

1. Faria MA. Vandals at the Gates of Medicine: Historic Perspective the Battle over Health Care. Hacienda Publishing (1994).
2. Faria MA. Medical Warrior : Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine. Hacienda Publishing (1997).
3. Faria MA. Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Thorough the Prism of History, Neurobiology and Bioethics (2024).
4. Faria MA. Cuba in Revolution: Escape From a Lost Paradise. (2002).
5. Faria MA. America, Guns and Freedom (2019).
6. Faria MA. Stalin, Mao, Communism, and Their 21st-Century Aftermath in Russia and China (2024).
7. Scruggs LM. The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths. Universal Media, Inc. (2011).
8. Von Mises. L Planned Chaos. Ludwig von Mises Institute, (2014).
9. Hayek FA. The Road to Serfdom (1994
10. Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, E.  Leftism Revisited: From de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot, Regnery Gateway, 1990.
11. Johnson P. Cathedrals of England, Scotland and Wales. Orion Pub Co (1993).

Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. is the president of Theoretical Neuroscience Research, LLC, Canton, Mississippi, a retired neurosurgeon, and the Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Neuro-Inflammation section of Surgical Neurology International (SNI). He has written numerous path-blazing scientific papers and books, including Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills (1994), Bioterrorism: How You Can Survive (2001), Health and Nutrition Secrets (2002), Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients (2003), and The Liver Cure (2022).

This article may be cited as: Blaylock, RL. Book Review—Contrasting Ideals and Ends in the American and French Revolutions by Dr. Miguel A. Faria. HaciendaPublishing.com, March 18, 2024. Available from: https://haciendapublishing.com/book-review-contrasting-ideals-and-ends-in-the-american-and-french-revolutions-by-dr-miguel-a-faria-reviewed-by-dr-russell-l-blaylock/.

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