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History

Virtue is the glue

France’s populist left leader
by Peter McPhee
October 2025, no. 480

Now, the People!: Revolution in the twenty-first century by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, translated from French by David Broder

Verso, £22.00, 320 pp

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Jean-Luc Mélenchon is famous in France for his booming eloquence, his rich vocabulary, and his deep knowledge of history and politics. The firebrand orator was born in 1951 in Tangier, Morocco, to parents of Spanish and Sicilian descent, then moved to France with his mother in 1962. After a degree in philosophy and languages he was a schoolteacher before becoming a political organiser and elected politician, notably from inner-city Marseille.

 


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Now, the People!: Revolution in the twenty-first century by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, translated from French by David Broder

Verso, £22.00, 320 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


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