Revolution and nations: a specifically European history?

The paper analyses the long-debated relationship between the American and the French Revolution. Specifically, it aims to underline how the birth of a histori- ography characterised by national peculiarities distanced (and even counterposed) these historical facts. From this point of view, it seems that the developments of the idea of Europe and the growth of global history after the changes occurred at the beginning of the century do not have contributed to renovating the interest in the comparison between the two revolutions. However, a comparative approach still remains fundamental in order to understand the fortunes and misfortunes of modern political culture.