Burke's landmark work was written during the early months of the French Revolution and predicted with incredible accuracy many of its worst excesses, including the Reign of Terror. It is a fierce attack on the revolution's attitudes towards existing institutions, property, and religion, presenting a compelling case for the preservation of hereditary rights and established customs. It advocates for gradual reform rather than revolutionary change - and criticizes the influence that Burke feared the revolution might have on Britain. "Reflections on the Revolution in France" is now widely regarded as a classic statement of conservative political thought and is one of the great works of political rhetoric of the eighteenth century.