On May 10, the “Night of the Barricades,” Belgian socialist Ernest Mandel was in Paris, addressing student protesters about to face down riot police in the Latin Quarter. Mandel finished his speech and wandered backed to his car, only to find it on fire. His response? He climbed on top of the nearest barricade and shouted as loud as he could, “Ah! Comme c’est beau! C’est la revolution!” (“How beautiful it is! It’s the revolution!”)

Of course, Mandel wasn’t actually witnessing a revolution, and today his story might be turned into a clever car insurance ad. But in his strange joy, we can see the spirit of May ’68. The revolt, which spread from the suburban campus of Nanterre University to every corner of France, produced a new left that would have a mighty influence. In the end, May wouldn’t just belong to the students.

Today, our image of France in 1968 revolves around meetings at the Sorbonne, or the occupied Odéon Theater, where student revolutionaries and left intellectuals like Jean-Paul Sartre denounced capitalism, bureaucracy, and the forces of order. We remember May ’68 for the writings of the Situationists; the indelible images printed on giant posters by the art students at Beaux-Arts; the popular slogans painted on walls across Paris: “Under the paving stones, the beach!” “Run comrade, the old world is behind you.” “Be realistic, demand the impossible.”