France's Bloodless and Pro-European Revolution

In November 2016, a book titled Révolution came out in France. It is not unusual for French politicians to put their ideas in writing—especially when they have ambitions for high office. But the author was a 38-year-old, little-known, former investment banker turned economy minister, who was embarking on an amazing journey to become the youngest elected President of the French republic a mere seven months later. His name was Emmanuel Macron.

Although the book wasn’t bad, most analysts either ignored or criticized it. The BFM news channel called it “a classic book,” and on the website CritiquesLibres, a reader complained that “it had nothing to do with Revolution!” Unsurprisingly, the far-left newspaper L’Humanité used the word “pompous” to describe it.

Perhaps they hadn’t truly read the book, which is now a bestseller, with 300,000 copies sold and over 20 foreign editions underway. Meanwhile, due to Angela Merkel’s inability to form a coalition government two months after Germany’s federal election, it is fair to say that Macron could even claim the European leadership. After years of being seen as the EU’s primus inter-pares, is Germany’s four-times elected chancellor about to be replaced by France’s new president?