This book compares the social decomposition in late medieval Europe to the societal failure witnessed today in the modern West, arguing that in the case of emergencies, a strong despotic state is the only way to maintain basic order. Shlapentokh asserts that asocial behavior (criminality, promiscuity, and anti-sanitary actions, as well as other aspects of social, political, and communal breakdown) in both medieval France and the contemporary West is not a marginal occurrence but rather a mainstream phenomena, and one that can often be stopped by strong force as the only antidote to social chaos. While the majority of Western (and particularly Anglo-American) scholarship dictates that Jeffersonian democracy will spread over the world, Shlapentokh argues that instead it is the precepts of Hobbes and Carl Schmitt that will shape the world to come.

The collapse of the imperial regime excited Russian intellectuals of all political persuasions. Although eager to draw comparisons between pre-revolutionary Russia and revolutionary France, the political elite saw the outcome in their own country as vastly different to the events which had occurred in France. Looking to the past they tried to predict the future - how their revolution would end. As the political situation became more unstable, there was increasing fear of dictatorship and bloodshed. The perception of Napoleon as a victorious general changed; he was seen instead as a powerful man who had brought stability to France. Thus came the search for a Russian Napoleon - first in the form of Alexander Kerensky, and later General Lavr Kornilov. Neither man was a successful candidate. Shlapentokh examines one of the most dramatic periods in European history. Drawing comparisons between revolutionary Russia and France he provides an insightful and original analysis of such subjects as counter-revolution, terror and dictatorship.

Shlapentokh asserts that asocial behavior in both medieval France and the contemporary West is not a marginal occurrence but rather a mainstream phenomena, and one that can often be stopped by strong force as the only antidote to social chaos.