Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions Books

Book SynopsisBeginning in 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was divided into opposing sections, one led by Vladimir Lenin, the other by Iulii Martov. Until 1917, Lenin and Martov, an anti-war socialist intellectual from a Jewish background, were equally prominent figures in Russian politics. Both wrote prolifically, and although the books, articles, and pamphlets written by Lenin remain readily available today, those by Martov continue to be difficult to locate in their original Russian or, for that matter, in translation.A Russian-language edition of World Bolshevism was published following Martov’s untimely death in 1923, but it was not until 2000, after decades of censorship, that parts of the book were legally published in Russia. This edition, which includes an introduction by Paul Kellogg, makes Martov’s work available in its complete form to English-speaking audiences for the first time in a hundred years and reintroduces this important thinker to a twenty-first century readership.Table of ContentsForewordIntroductionForeword to the 1923 Russian EditionI. Roots of World Bolshevism II. The Ideology of “Sovietism”III. Decomposition or Conquest of the State?Appendix – Marx and the Problem of the Dictatorship of the ProletariatBibliographyNotes from the 1938 translation by Herman Jerson

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Book Synopsis1917: the year a series of rebellions toppled three centuries of autocratic rule and placed a group of political radicals in charge of a world power. Here, suddenly, was the first modern socialist state, “a kingdom more bright that any heaven had to offer”. But the dream was short-lived, bringing in its wake seventy years of conflict and instability that nearly ended in nuclear war. How could such a revolution take place and what caused it to go so very wrong? Presenting a uniquely long view of events, Abraham Ascher takes readers from the seeds of revolution in the 1880s right through to Stalin’s state terror and the power of the communist legacy in Russia today. Original and shrewd, Ascher’s analysis offers an unparalled introduction to this watershed period in world historyTrade Review‘this book has much to offer… interesting and engaging’ * Russian Review *"In this erudite and engaging volume, Abraham Ascher manages to combine a comprehensive and managable guide to its complex subject, which will appeal to beginners, with gems of insight -- drawn from his lifetime of engagement with the subject -- that will make it also required reading for all students of the Russian Revolution." -- Jonathan D. Smele, Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London"The best, most concise and most reliable introduction." -- Walter Laqueur - Emeritus Professor, Georgetown University"Perfect for the general reader. Original and insightful. Highly recommended." -- Guenter Lewy - Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst"Erudite and engaging. Ascher's gems of insight will make it required reading for all students of the Russian Revolution." -- Seymour Becker - Professor Emeritus of History, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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Book SynopsisRe-issued with an introduction by Neil Jordan, 'The Big Fellow' is the 1937 biography of the famed Irish leader Michael Collins by acclaimed author Frank O'Connor. It is an uncompromising but humane study of Collins, whose stature and genius O’Connor recognised. A masterly, evocative portrait of one of Ireland’s most charismatic figures, 'The Big Fellow' covers the period of Collins' life from the Easter Rising in 1916 to his death in 1922 during the Irish Civil War. The author, having served with the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War, wrote 'The Big Fellow' as a form of reparation over the guilt he felt with regards to taking up arms against his fellow Irishmen and Collins' untimely death. Liam Neeson has said that he found the book of great assistance when preparing for the role of Collins in the 1996 film directed by Neil Jordan.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the lives and deaths of over 300 men, women and children buried in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery who died due to the War of Independence and Civil War. Detailed research brings their stories together for the first time with first-hand accounts of those who witnessed and participated in these historical conflicts. Through the exploration of seemingly ordinary burial records, extraordinary events are revealed. Unfolded are stories of ambushes, informers, assassinations, spies, executions, raids, mutiny and bombings, together with ordinary members of the public, caught up in extraordinary events.

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Book SynopsisAt the turn of the century, the Russian economy was growing by about 10% annually and its population had reached 150 million. By 1920 the country was in desperate financial straits and more than 20 million Russians had died. And by 1950, a third of the globe had embraced communism. The triumph of Communism sets a profound puzzle. How did the Bolsheviks win power and then cling to it amid the chaos they had created? Traditional histories remain a captive to Marxist ideas about class struggle. Analysing never before used files from the Tsarist military archives, McMeekin argues that war is the answer. The revolutionaries were aided at nearly every step by Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland who sought to benefit - politically and economically - from the changes overtaking the country. To make sense of Russia's careening path the essential question is not Lenin's "who, whom?", but who benefits?Trade ReviewPraise for July 1914: 'Sean McMeekin's chronicle of these weeks in July 1914: Countdown to War is almost impossible to put down ... [McMeekin] delivers a punchy and riveting narrative of high politics and diplomacy over the five weeks after Sarajevo, more or less day by day, dwelling on small groups of decision-makers in and between the various capitals, and their interactions, by turns measured, perplexed, cordial, artful, angry, even tearful * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisTartan Gangs and Paramilitaries is a new oral history of the loyalist backlash of the early 1970s in Northern Ireland. In the violent maelstrom of Belfast in 1971 and 1972 many young members of loyalist youth gangs known as ‘Tartans’ converged with fledgling paramilitary groups such as the Red Hand Commando, Ulster Volunteer Force and Young Citizen Volunteers. This fresh account focuses on the manner in which the loyalist community in Belfast reacted to an increasingly vicious Provisional IRA campaign and explores the violent role that young loyalist men played in the period from 1970 – 1975. Through the use of unique one-on-one interviews former members of Tartan gangs and loyalist paramilitaries explain what motivated them to cross the Rubicon from gang activity to paramilitaries. The book utilises a wide range of sources such as newspaper articles, loyalist newssheets, coroners’ inquest reports and government memorandums to provide the context for a dynamic new study of the emergence of loyalist paramilitarism.Trade ReviewReviews 'A well written and convincing study of a neglected aspect of loyalist formation and identity, this book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on loyalism.' Graham Spence, University of Portsmouth'Gareth Mulvenna has written a classic with this study of the emergence of the Tartan gangs of Belfast in the early 1970s and their subsequent absorption, often as enthusiastic killers, into the ranks of the UVF, Red Hand Commando and Ulster Defence Association. With their origins in the Glasgow gangs and the Protestant reaction to the growth of IRA violence in 1970-72, symbolised by the killing of three Scottish soldiers in 1971, the Tartan gangs were an important part of Unionist selfhood at the outbreak of the Troubles. [...] I have no hesitation in recommending this valuable and well written book.' Ed Moloney'Gareth Mulvenna provides a fascinating insight into the world of young loyalists associated with the Tartan Gangs, Young Citizen Volunteers and Red Hand Commando. He relates these to earlier gangs and subcultures. Their mode of expression was governed by growing tensions in an increasingly divided Northern Ireland. Militant politicians, Ulster and Irish, had stirred up strife with little concern for the consequences. Young people were caught up in the violence but many eventually realised the futility of violence and worked to find a better way.' Roy Garland'...fascinating exploration of early 1970s Loyalism.' Ed Moloney, The Broken Elbow'This is an important and valuable book. The story it tells is an important one and the concluding paragraph is bang on the money. Lessons still haven’t been learned from that journey from Tartan gang to paramilitary gang, so I hope that politicians – from all parties – will read this book.' Alex Kane, News Letter'Tartan Gangs makes an important contribution to one of the most contentious features of post-conflict Northern Ireland, namely the notion of 'legacy'. The author has publicly expressed frustrations that amid much focus on issues of collusion and the role of the state, the Loyalist experience, still generally portrayed as brutal and unsophisticated, remains at the edges of the “uncomfortable conversations”. Mulvenna’s study is a valiant attempt at teasing out the often overlooked motivations of Loyalism, its notions of defending its areas, its cultural and social way of life and where Republicanism is viewed, not as part of a world revolutionary movement, but as the catalyst for sectarian carnage in their communities.' Gerry Braiden, Herald Scotland'Rather than romanticise or glorify the loyalist violence that followed from what were originally small gangs of young men dressed in tartan scarves to organised paramilitary organisations, Mulvenna breaks it down in a way that I admit made me think for the first time about my own understanding of loyalism. His book does not make for easy reading at times, but it is nonetheless an important study of the past which is incredibly relevant in the here and now. The now old men who spoke to Mulvenna about their experiences use the same language the young men of east Belfast are using now. That fear of cultural erosion may well be based on perception rather than reality but what this book demonstrates if nothing else is how unwise it is dismiss those fears and risk history repeating itself.' Allison Morris, The Irish News'Mulvenna has made an important contribution to existing work on the loyalist paramilitaries, including that by Scottish academics Steve Bruce and Ian S Wood. The book is among the best accounts of the sweaty, bloody chaos of the early troubles and further confirmation that the best work about the conflict is that which uses oral history to full effect.'Alasdair McKillop, Scottish Review'This is an important and valuable historical work that humanises those who suffered and those who fought in the conflict.'Sean Huddleston, Irish Studies ReviewTable of ContentsIllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologueIntroduction1. Drills, Fights and Defence2. ‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)3. Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)4. Protestants at War? (1971–72)5. Convergence (1972)6. From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)ConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTartan Gangs and Paramilitaries is a new oral history of the loyalist backlash of the early 1970s in Northern Ireland. In the violent maelstrom of Belfast in 1971 and 1972 many young members of loyalist youth gangs known as ‘Tartans’ converged with fledgling paramilitary groups such as the Red Hand Commando, Ulster Volunteer Force and Young Citizen Volunteers. This fresh account focuses on the manner in which the loyalist community in Belfast reacted to an increasingly vicious Provisional IRA campaign and explores the violent role that young loyalist men played in the period from 1970 – 1975. Through the use of unique one-on-one interviews former members of Tartan gangs and loyalist paramilitaries explain what motivated them to cross the Rubicon from gang activity to paramilitaries. The book utilises a wide range of sources such as newspaper articles, loyalist newssheets, coroners’ inquest reports and government memorandums to provide the context for a dynamic new study of the emergence of loyalist paramilitarism.Trade ReviewReviews 'A well written and convincing study of a neglected aspect of loyalist formation and identity, this book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on loyalism.' Graham Spence, University of Portsmouth'Gareth Mulvenna has written a classic with this study of the emergence of the Tartan gangs of Belfast in the early 1970s and their subsequent absorption, often as enthusiastic killers, into the ranks of the UVF, Red Hand Commando and Ulster Defence Association. With their origins in the Glasgow gangs and the Protestant reaction to the growth of IRA violence in 1970-72, symbolised by the killing of three Scottish soldiers in 1971, the Tartan gangs were an important part of Unionist selfhood at the outbreak of the Troubles. [...] I have no hesitation in recommending this valuable and well written book.' Ed Moloney'Gareth Mulvenna provides a fascinating insight into the world of young loyalists associated with the Tartan Gangs, Young Citizen Volunteers and Red Hand Commando. He relates these to earlier gangs and subcultures. Their mode of expression was governed by growing tensions in an increasingly divided Northern Ireland. Militant politicians, Ulster and Irish, had stirred up strife with little concern for the consequences. Young people were caught up in the violence but many eventually realised the futility of violence and worked to find a better way.' Roy Garland'...fascinating exploration of early 1970s Loyalism.' Ed Moloney, The Broken Elbow'This is an important and valuable book. The story it tells is an important one and the concluding paragraph is bang on the money. Lessons still haven’t been learned from that journey from Tartan gang to paramilitary gang, so I hope that politicians – from all parties – will read this book.' Alex Kane, News Letter'Tartan Gangs makes an important contribution to one of the most contentious features of post-conflict Northern Ireland, namely the notion of 'legacy'. The author has publicly expressed frustrations that amid much focus on issues of collusion and the role of the state, the Loyalist experience, still generally portrayed as brutal and unsophisticated, remains at the edges of the “uncomfortable conversations”. Mulvenna’s study is a valiant attempt at teasing out the often overlooked motivations of Loyalism, its notions of defending its areas, its cultural and social way of life and where Republicanism is viewed, not as part of a world revolutionary movement, but as the catalyst for sectarian carnage in their communities.' Gerry Braiden, Herald Scotland'Rather than romanticise or glorify the loyalist violence that followed from what were originally small gangs of young men dressed in tartan scarves to organised paramilitary organisations, Mulvenna breaks it down in a way that I admit made me think for the first time about my own understanding of loyalism. His book does not make for easy reading at times, but it is nonetheless an important study of the past which is incredibly relevant in the here and now. The now old men who spoke to Mulvenna about their experiences use the same language the young men of east Belfast are using now. That fear of cultural erosion may well be based on perception rather than reality but what this book demonstrates if nothing else is how unwise it is dismiss those fears and risk history repeating itself.' Allison Morris, The Irish News'Mulvenna has made an important contribution to existing work on the loyalist paramilitaries, including that by Scottish academics Steve Bruce and Ian S Wood. The book is among the best accounts of the sweaty, bloody chaos of the early troubles and further confirmation that the best work about the conflict is that which uses oral history to full effect.'Alasdair McKillop, Scottish Review'This is an important and valuable historical work that humanises those who suffered and those who fought in the conflict.'Sean Huddleston, Irish Studies ReviewTable of ContentsIllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologueIntroduction1. Drills, Fights and Defence2. ‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)3. Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)4. Protestants at War? (1971–72)5. Convergence (1972)6. From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)ConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis is the first collection of essays on Chartism by leading social historian Dorothy Thompson, whose work radically transformed the way in which Chartism is understood. Reclaiming Chartism as a fully-blown working-class movement, Thompson intertwines her penetrating analyses of class with ground-breaking research uncovering the role played by women in the movement.Throughout her essays, Thompson strikes a delicate balance between down-to-the-ground accounts of local uprisings, snappy portraits of high-profile Chartist figures as well as rank-and-file men and women, and more theoretical, polemical interventions.Of particular historical and political significance is the previously unpublished substantial essay co-authored by Dorothy and Edward Thompson, a superb piece of local historical research by two social historians then on the brink of notable careers.Trade Review“Ever alert, Dorothy Thompson probed beneath the outer surface of evidence. The results were innovatory. Her work brought to life the intense and dangerous interior world of working class meetings, conventions and newspapers.” —Sheila Rowbotham, Guardian “Dorothy Thompson is Chartism’s pre-eminent historian. She writes in a careful, passionate, and welcoming style giving pride of place to the voices in hymn, oratory, diary, and newspaper of the men and women who struggled against the child-consuming factory, the complacency of Victorianism, and empire-induced starvations. Those voices arose in the era of Liberalism. They need to be heeded still.” —Peter Linebaugh “These essays convey the distilled political and historical wisdom of a lifetime, and what a life it was. Dorothy Thompson will forever be remembered alongside the great Chartist movement she so brilliantly brought to vital, creative life.” —Marcus Rediker, author of The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom “Dorothy Thompson, who pioneered the writing of labour history from below, emerges as a complex and lucid philosopher of social change in these writings, which also chart the evolution of the post-war British left’s thinking about both its future and its past.” —Paul Mason “Awesome is an over-used word in modern parlance, but Dorothy Thompson’s knowledge of Chartism was just that. She was the pre-eminent historian of the movement.” —Owen Ashton, Labour History Review “Dorothy Thompson brought her extraordinary knowledge of Chartism together with a passionate commitment to democratic change. Her lifetime’s work on the movement remains unsurpassed in its range and historical vision.” —James Epstein, Vanderbilt University “Dorothy Thompson was both a remarkable person and an influential historian of Chartism. This collection of her essays…highlights the approach of one of a formidable pair of fellow historians and left-wing intellectuals.” —Penelope J. Corfield, History Today “This is an extremely valuable volume … Thompson offers a master class in historical research and presentation … This is superb history … Read Dorothy Thompson’s marvellous book.”—Counterfire “A handsome, readable and enjoyable collection.” —The Local Historian (British Association for Local History)

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Book SynopsisAt the end of the First World War in Germany, the journalist and theatre critic Kurt Eisner organised a revolution which overthrew the monarchy, and declared a Free State of Bavaria. In February 1919, he was assassinated, and the revolution failed. But while the dream lived, it was the writers, the poets, the playwrights and the intellectuals who led the way. As well as Eisner, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and many other prominent figures in German cultural history were involved. In his characteristically lucid, sharp prose, Volker Weidermann presents us with a slice of history - November 1918 to April 1919 - and shows how a small group of people could have altered the course of the twentieth century.Trade Review • "Vivid, full of sardonic humour, moral nuance and personal drama, this book takes the reader into the heart of the revolutionary crowd, and shows how exhilarating and terrifying it is to be there"--New Statesman • "A superb account... a remarkable cast of characters... [Weidermann] brings to life long forgotten and seemingly insignificant and quirky episodes in history"--Guardian • "An absolutely gripping tale... great pace, action and character... the characters are unforgettable"--The Times • "Dramatic... a compact and colourful account, with the breathless pace of war reporting"--Spectator • "A gripping account... Volker Weidermann's blend of engrossing, urgent reportage and gentle, dissociative musing will be familiar to readers of his previous work, the bestselling Summer Before the Dark... deceptively extravagant and endlessly interesting book"--Financial Times

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Book SynopsisOne hundred years ago, Easter 1916, Irish revolutionaries rose against the British Empire proclaiming a Republic from the steps of the General Post Office in Dublin. The men and women of the Easter Rising were defeated by the overwhelming force of the British Army, in five days of intense fighting. Their leaders were executed. But the Easter Rising lit a fire that ended with the whole country turning against Westminster's rule, and founding a nation. But today, the heirs to the Irish state are embarrassed about 1916. They are ashamed that their state owes its origins to a revolution. Along with academics and other commentators in the press and on television they dismiss the Rising as the work of violent fanatics, and the defeat of constitutional politics. Who's Afraid of the Easter Rising? explains why today's Dublin elite are recoiling from the origins of their state in a popular struggle. Where the critics paint the Rising as an armed conspiracy, we explain that it was in fact a revolt against war; not a militaristic upsurge, but the first challenge to the awful slaughter of the First World War. The Statesmen of Europe sacrificed millions upon the altar of war. Their recruiting sergeants in Ireland, Edward Carson and John Redmond sent 200,000 Irishmen into the slaughter and nearly 50,000 were killed. The Easter Rising drew a halt to British recruitment, and the blow to the Empire was the first crack in a growing revolt against the war, followed by the Russian Revolution in 1917, and the German revolution the following year - which ended the conflict. The Easter Rising was an inspiration to those who were challenging the Empires of Europe, from India to Vietnam, from New Zealand to Moscow; it was an inspiration to British activists like John Maclean and Sylvia Pankhurst; and it was an inspiration to the Irish men and women who rose up against British rule to free their nation.

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Book SynopsisWritten in a lively and engaging style, and designed to be accessible to a broader audience, this collection combines new research with the latest scholarship to provide a fresh and invigorating introduction to the revolutionary period that transformed Britain and its empire. There has been an explosion of interest in the 'Glorious' Revolution in recent years. Long regarded as the lesser of Britain's seventeenth-century revolutions, a faint after tremor following the major earthquake of mid-century, itis now coming to be seen as a major transformative episode in its own right, a landmark event which marked a distinctive break in British history. This collection sheds new light on the final crisis of the Stuart monarchy by re-examining the causes and implications of the dynastic shift of 1688-9 from a broad chronological, intellectual and geographical perspective. Comprising eleven essays by specialists in the field, it ranges from the 1660s to the mid-eighteenth century, deals with the history of ideas as well as political and religious history, and not only covers England, Scotland and Ireland but also explores the Atlantic and European contexts. Encompassing high politics and low politics, Tory and Whig political thought, and the experiences of both Catholics and Protestants, it ranges from protest and resistance to Jacobitism and counter-revolution and even offers an evaluation of British attitudes towards slavery. Written in a lively and engaging style and designed to be accessible to a broader audience, it combines new research with the latest scholarship to provide a fresh and invigorating introduction to the revolutionary period that transformed Britain and its empire. TIM HARRIS is Munro-Goodwin-Wilkinson Professor in European History at Brown University STEPHEN TAYLOR is Professor in the History of Early Modern England and Head of Department at Durham University.Trade ReviewThe essays in this excellent collection are all written to a uniformly high standard of scholarship and clarity and should be both instructive and entertaining reading to those interested in gaining a perspective on the most recent work being done on the period and events so central to the history of the Huguenot diaspora. * HUGUENOT SOCIETY JOURNAL *[P]romises to provide new insights on the final crisis of the last wholly British ruling dynasty. * CANADIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY *

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Book SynopsisRecent history has documented a phenomenal surge in global unrest. From Missouri to the Middle East, the world has watched waves of momentum build, peak, and dip around events such as the shooting of Michael Brown and the acquittal of Hosni Mubarak. There have been waves of mass protests of resistance, vivid expressions of human agency through the use of technology and social media, and the clear search for finding voice in spaces where the culture of silence has been the norm for decades. This quest for humanization has led, in some cases, to macro-level changes such as the fall of governments, the collapse of economic stability, and the production of immense refugee populations. It has also led to micro-level changes within individuals’ decisions to no longer be silenced or accept the status quo. Although separated by vast geographic space, this book serves to link these struggles through developing understandings of common patterns within and interconnections across oppressive societal structures. While these dynamic forms of human agency can be studied from multiple perspectives, this book is guided through the powerful ideological frameworks of culture and social reproduction and looks specifically to the role of schooling as a vehicle for catalysing change.Trade ReviewResearchers from North America, Australia, Iran, and Europe present 18 essays on resistance to inequality, marginalization, and limited opportunities, particularly the role of schools and education. They address institutional and historical mechanisms of inequality, including how the Programme for International Student Assessment and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development view educational equity in a global context; the increase in negative perceptions of students of new teachers in the US; the evolution of Egypt’s educational system from 1954 to 2011; the educational and community interactions of working and middle-class ethnic Chinese immigrants in the Midwest; the framing of Black Lives Matter in mainstream media; the systemic discrimination of LGBT communities and the Stonewall riots as the foundation of their fight for equal rights and empowerment; and the rise of public-private partnerships in Egyptian education. The second section focuses on students, youth, and families as agents of resistance, including Asian immigrant student activists who fought against school violence and bullying; black girls’ resistance to the school-to-prison pipeline; how former child soldiers in South Sudan struggle to access education; the relationship between negative school social relations, school safety, educational expectation, and academic achievement in Latino immigrant students; Egyptian youth’s development in relation to education, poverty, health, opportunity structures, and challenges associated with social mobility; how black and Latino women from a predominantly white high school in the US engaged in acts of resistance; university student movements in Egypt; gender-specific religious moral dilemmas in Iranian schools; the role of everyday spaces of learning for refugee youth; Black mothers’ efforts to resist ideologies and stereotypes; and white teachers and Latino students working together to discuss race and resist unjust systems. -- Annotation ©2017 * (protoview.com) *Table of ContentsSection 1: Institutional and Historical Factors in Inequality Chapter 1. Conceptions of Equity in an Age of Globalized Education: A Discourse Analysis of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results; Chapter 2. Advancing or Inhibiting Educational Opportunity: The Power of New Teachers to Reinforce or Deconstruct Social Reproduction in Urban Schools; Chapter 3. Tracing Egyptian Education Policy in Changing Eras and Regimes: From 1954 to 2011; Chapter 4. Accommodating and Resisting Dominant Discourses: The Reproduction of Inequality in a Chinese American Community; Chapter 5. An Examination of Mainstream Media as an Educating Institution: The Black Lives Matter Movement and Contemporary Social Protest; Chapter 6. The Stonewall Riots: Moving from the Margins to the Mainstream; Chapter 7. PPPs in Global Education Policy: Looking at the case of the Egyptian Education Initiative; Section 2: Students, Youth, & Families as Agents of Resistance Chapter 8. Resisting the Hegemony of School Bureaucracy and Organizing for Safe Schools: First Generation Immigrant Asian Students Develop Activist Identities and Literacies; Chapter 9. Standing in Solidarity with Black Girls to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline; Chapter 10. Educational and Social Challenges in the Reintegration Process of Former Child Soldiers; Chapter 11. Academic Achievement of Latino Immigrant Adolescents: The Effects of Negative School Social Relationships, School Safety and Educational Expectation; Chapter 12. Youth in Modern Egypt: Toward an Understanding of Civic Engagement and Underlying Social Dynamics; Chapter 13. Resources for Resistance: The Role of Dominant and Non-Dominant Forms of Cultural Capital in Resistance among Young Women of Color in a Predominantly White Public High School; Chapter 14. Pedagogy of Transition: Understanding University Student Movements in Transitional Egypt; Chapter 15. Gender-specific moral dilemmas related to religion in Iranian schools; Chapter 16. The Role of Everyday Spaces of Learning for Refugee Youth; Chapter 17. Chicago African American Mothers’ Power of Resistance: Designing Spaces of Hope in Global Contexts; Chapter 18. Bound Together: White Teachers/Latinx Students Revising Resistance;

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Book SynopsisOne man with an insatiable hunger: a novel of desire and destruction in Revolutionary France, based on a true story, from the Desmond Elliott Prize-winning author of The Manningtree Witches. Sister Perpetue is not to move. She is not to fall asleep. She is to sit, keeping guard over the patient's room. She has heard the stories of his hunger, which defy belief: that he has eaten all manner of creatures and objects. A child even, if the rumours are to be believed. But it is hard to believe that this slender, frail man is the one they once called The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon. Before, he was just Tarare. Well-meaning and hopelessly curious, born into a world of brawling and sweet cider, to a bereaved mother and a life of slender means. The 18th Century is drawing to a close, unrest grips the heart of France and life in the village is soon shaken. When a sudden act of violence sees Tarare cast out and left for dead, his ferocious appetite is ignited, and it's not long before his extraordinary abilities to eat make him a marvel throughout the land.Trade ReviewA darkly exuberant novel about one man's insatiable hunger... -- What to read this autumn: 2023’s biggest new books * The Guardian *An embarrassment of riches. A sensory assault fit to slap any reader awake with its gorgeous glut of baroque prose and wise, poised lessons on life, pleasure, class, desire, and love -- Kiran Millwood HargraveThe Glutton contains some of the most striking writing I have read in a very long time. An audacious and humane study of desire, pain and tenderness; a remarkable book about a remarkable subject by a remarkable writer -- Keiran Goddard, author of HourglassAn extraordinary accomplishment, a truly horrible and truly glorious novel. I devoured it. AK Blakemore's intelligence is tempered by a profound and merciful human compassion, and the tragic making and breaking of Tarare is going to be with me for quite some time. Heartbreaking -- Annie GarthwaiteRelentless and shocking, bursting with life in all its thrilling vulgarity, The Glutton will dog your days. Blakemore's history is not to be tiptoed around. Her prose is unstoppable, full of bawdy viscera, singing of the cruelty and seduction of the past... It will have you squirming between sympathy and revulsion, pleasure and pain -- Alex HydeSet in revolutionary France, The Glutton...explores poverty, desire and social chaos in thrilling prose * Guardian *Excellent... Blakemore's writing is exceptional, saturated with the viscera of this life... The Glutton also offers beauty with practically every other sentence: not even a roadside thistle escapes a simile. Tarare doesn't know his letters, but Blakemore gives him the yearning inner life of a poet... In Tarare's final moments, both we and the Sister are invited to see not some othered creature of myth, but something of ourselves * Telegraph - 5/5 stars *Even in the midst of unpleasantness, The Glutton provides mischievous fun... A rich, human story - a raucous mess where excess is not sinful but defiant, a retaliation against the inequality of a country on the cusp of revolution * Literary Review *Through Tarare's thrilling travels we witness all the upheaval in a fierce and lyrical tale of desire * Monocle *Blakemore takes Tarare's life, recorded only in a medical paper, and puts the meat on the bones. But what meat it is. Blood drips from every page as she creates a banquet of gorgeously crafted, unexpected images. You'll find yourself turning them over in your mind for days... * Evening Standard *A full-throttle picaresque... Blakemore puts flesh on the bones of this quasi-mythical figure by showing his escape from a violent, impoverished childhood * Daily Mail *The Glutton is remarkable for its beautiful language, for its hallucinatory imagery, and for its ability to mingle these things with the world of 18th-century poor folk... The Glutton is certain to be one of the most remarkable novels of the year * Guardian *Tarare's story is a breathless picaresque, each new situation quickly revealed as frying pan or fire. His tragedy is to be too trusting, seeing his exploiters as friends. The entire society Blakemore presents is a cruel and grasping one, its resources too scarce to nourish kindness... The Glutton brings Tarare's world to life in all its stink and splendour * The Sunday Times *Blakemore's second novel is a tour de force of sustained, visceral brilliance. Although not for the squeamish, it ultimately rescues a real human being from the caricature that history made of him * Mail on Sunday *A. K. Blakemore is one such author who refuses to slim down her rich use of language and invites us, much like her gluttonous muse, to gorge... Blakemore's revolting bodies are an antidote to modernity's sanitisation. With absurdist humour she invites readers to revel in the muck * Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisThe Mediterranean was one of Napoleon's greatest spheres of influence. With territory in Spain, Italy and, of course, France, Napoleon's regime dominated the Great Sea for much of the early nineteenth century. The 'Napoleonic Mediterranean' was composed of almost the entirety of the western, European lands bordering its northern shores, however tenuously many of those shores were held. The disastrous attempt to conquer Egypt in 1798-99, and the rapid loss of Malta to the British, sealed its eastward and southern limits. None of Napoleon's Mediterranean possessions were easily held; they were volatile societies which showed determined resistance to the new state forged by the French Revolution. In this book, acclaimed historian and biographer of Napoleon, Michael Broers looks at the similarities and differences between Napoleon's Mediterranean imperial possessions. He considers the process of political, military and legal administration as well as the challenges faced by Napoleon's Prefects in overcoming hostility in the local population. With chapters covering a range of imperial territories, this book is a unique and valuable addition to the historical literature on Napoleonic Europe and the process and practice of imperialism.

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Book Synopsis'Excellent... It is a tremendous tale - one of the most dramatic in our island's history - and O'Keeffe tells it beautifully' The TimesCharles Edward Stuart's campaign to seize the British throne ended with one of the quickest defeats in history: on 16 April 1746, at Culloden, his Jacobite army was overpowered in under forty minutes. Its brutal repercussions, however, endured for years, its legacy for centuries.Paul O'Keeffe follows the Jacobite army from initial victories to calamitous defeat. Exploring the battle's aftermath, he chronicles the Jacobite prisoners paying for their treason on block and gibbet while those granted 'the King's mercy' suffered the fate of forced labour on plantations in the colonies. While Stuart's cause eventually acquired an aura of romanticism, the Jacobite Rising remains one of the most bloody and divisive conflicts in British domestic history, which resonates to this day.'Detailed, vivid - and not for the faint-hearted' Financial Times'Fascinating, meticulously researched... tremendous' Daily Mail'Intensely readable... and vividly written' Neal Ascherson, London Review of BooksTrade ReviewA tremendous tale - one of the most dramatic in our island's history - and O'Keeffe tells it beautifully, -- Saul David * The Times *Fascinating, meticulously researched, often brutally detailed ... without being there, those times could not be more vividly brought to life than in this tremendous book -- Roger Alton * Daily Mail *Brings the last battle on British soil to life with page-turning vivacity * Mail on Sunday *A fascinating portrait of 18th-century Britain as an age of elegance and brutality... I recommend this book strongly -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *A fascinating portrait of eighteenth-century Britain as an age of elegance and brutality... I recommend this book strongly -- Allan Massie * Scotsman, *Books of the Year* *Detailed, vivid - and not for the faint-hearted * Financial Times *Intensely readable... [and] vividly written -- Neal Ascherson * London Review of Books *A vibrant and vivid tale, of victory, defeat, savage retribution and 'high' art... In our field one is often inclined to think or say, 'Do we really we need yet another book on Culloden?' However, if they are written as well and as excitingly as Paul O'Keeffe's...then the answer is a resounding 'Yes!' -- Robert Woosnam-Savage FSA, Curator Emeritus, Royal Armouries, University of Leeds

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Book SynopsisThe most dramatic, revealing and little-known story in Turkey's history - which illuminates the nation'Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country' Colin Thubron'Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it' Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentIn the spring of 2016 travel writer Jeremy Seal went to Turkey to investigate perhaps the most dramatic, revealing and little-known episode in the country's history - the 'original' coup of 1960, which deposed the traditionalist Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The story of Menderes - to his adoring supporters the country's founding democrat; to his sworn enemies its most infamous traitor - goes to the heart of the feud that continues to rage between the Western and secular ambitions of a minority elite and the religious and conservative instincts of the small-town majority. A Coup in Turkey is a thrilling account of the events leading up to the coup and the trials and executions that followed, a story of political subterfuge and score-settling, courtroom drama, state execution, authoritarian intolerance and ideological division. Seal travels through President Erdogan's Turkey, tracking down eye-witness accounts from survivors of the Menderes era in Istanbul, the historic metropolis, and the new capital at Ankara. As he expertly guides us through this extraordinary story, so the compelling parallels between past and present become strikingly clear, and he illuminates this troubled nation with a deep sympathy and love for the people and places he writes about. By focussing on one key event - one which many Turks regard with shame - this evocative, gripping portrait of Turkey recentres our understanding of the past and makes sense of one of Europe's most bewildering yet intriguing neighbours.'A wonderful writer' Robert MacfarlaneTrade ReviewAn excellent, occasionally disturbing and very original book -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *In his [Seal's] enlightening book A Coup in Turkey, Menderes's story defies the simple political messages that are projected on to it . . . Seal's work is an excellent addition to any Turkey bookshelf, offering a beautifully wrought epitaph that Menderes's contradictory life, and the continuing aftershocks of his death, has long deserved -- Hannah Lucinda Smith * The Times *A compelling account of Menderes' rise and fall, part biography, part travelogue . . . The book's greatest strength is as a testament to the deep seam of authoritarianism that runs through Turkey's history, a reminder that Erdogan is a symptom as well as a cause of the country's current problems -- Laura Pitel * Financial Times *The coup of 1960 may seem remote, but the forces it unleashed are still at work - perhaps more than ever, which is what makes Mr Seal's book so timely * Economist *Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country -- Colin ThubronMeticulously researched and vivid book... Seal is an evocative writer... [and he] paints a nuanced and largely sympathetic portrait of Menderes -- Owen Matthews * Literary Review *Turkey's 1960 coup was a huge event that played out on an intimate scale. Interpreting it requires the tenacity of a reporter, the learning of an academic and the verve of a novelist. Luckily, Jeremy Seal possesses all these qualities, which he brings to bear on one of the most significant calamities of the modern Middle East. Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it -- Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentThe road from Menderes to Erdogan is a twisted one, full of shadows, ghouls and strange delights. And I cannot imagine a better guide to it than Jeremy Seal . . . it has enough drama in it for a James Bond film . . . Seal takes us on a journey into a history that still lives, in a land still worth loving -- Maureen Freely * The Oldie *A gripping, meticulously told political drama. With great skill, tenacity and genuine feeling, Jeremy Seal re-assembles the extraordinary build-up to Turkey's 1960 coup, its courtroom aftermath and its tragic denouement. In doing so, he presents a brilliant portrait of oscillating populism and pragmatism, military force and religious fervour, democracy and state brutality, that appears as relevant to today's world as it was sixty years ago -- Philip MarsdenAn excellent historical lens through which to view the country's political landscape -- Colin Freeman * Daily Telegraph *A page turning quest into the greatest judicial murder story of its time, but also a physical journey across Anatolia and into the violent passions of Turkish politics where "not taking sides" is not an option. Which is why this book is not just a revelation, but also a love letter to the contemporary nation, written by England's pre-eminent travel writer on Turkey -- Barnaby RogersonLucid and multi-layered, backed by brilliant scholarship lightly worn, Jeremy Seal's gripping narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the political as it charts the rise and fall of the man who, after Ataturk, reset the direction of the Turkish republic. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand modern Turkey -- Jason GoodwinA deeply interesting meeting point between a historical account of a decisive period in the history of Turkey and a modern travelogue... A context that is vividly presented in Seal's impressive work. In A Coup in Turkey the reader will find a well-researched and thrilling book that provides a relevant approach to a relatively unknown period of Turkish history -- Marc Martorell * London School of Economics *

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Book SynopsisA giant of the political left, Rosa Luxemburg is one of the foremost minds in the canon of revolutionary socialist thought. But she was much more than just a thinker. She made herself heard in a world inimical to the voices of strong-willed women. She overcame physical infirmity and the prejudice she faced as a Jew to become an active revolutionary whose philosophy enriched every corner of an incredibly productive and creative life-her many friendships, her sexual intimacies, and her love of science, nature and art.Always opposed to the First World War, when others on the German left were swept up on a tide of nationalism, she was imprisoned and murdered in 1919 fighting for a revolution she knew to be doomed.In this beautifully drawn work of graphic biography, writer and artist Kate Evans has opened up her subject's intellectual world to a new audience, grounding Luxemburg's ideas in the realities of an inspirational and deeply affecting life.Trade ReviewA courageous leader of the early twentieth-century socialist movement-a woman who dared to question both Marx and Lenin-Luxemburg was also, as Kate Evans reveals in this brilliant graphic biography, a person of deep passions, ecstatic insights, and ultimately, as fascism emerged from the ruins of World War I-heartbreak of historic dimensions. This book is hard to put down and contains a challenge that is impossible to turn away from: We could create a better world-peaceful, egalitarian, even joyful-if we are willing to learn from Red Rosa. -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Living with a Wild GodI admire it as an artist. I admire it as a writer. A huge achievement. -- Molly Crabapple, artist and author of Drawing BloodA story told with verve, humor, and great art. -- Trina Robbins, author of Pretty in InkFive stars. The perfect book for [the] socialist-curious . What Rosa Luxemburg wrote about and predicted is scarily relevant today. -- John Yohe * Comics Bulletin *Kate Evans deserves our gratitude for telling the tragic tale of this early twentieth-century revolutionary. -- Sharon Rudahl, author and artist of Dangerous Woman[Luxemburg] gets her due in a full-length graphic novel biography . Red Rosa fits comfortably in this fall theme of feminist representation in graphic novels and comics. -- Sarah S. Ward * BookRiot *Wonderful. I love the way it incorporates complicated historical details into a moving biographical account. -- Mary M. Talbot, author of Dotter of Her Father’s EyesIf the bedrock of this biography is its combination of Marxist theory and historical narrative-including but not limited to Luxemburg's participation in the international socialist movement, German politics, and the Russian Revolution of 1905-the motherlode is its touching portrayal of a woman who sacrificed her life for her beliefs. -- Jan Herman * Arts Journal *It does a fine job of telling [Luxemburg's] story. The prison scenes are particularly good. * Observer ("Best Graphic Books of 2015") *Utterly brilliant. Kate Evans is one of the most original talents in comics I've seen in a long time. -- Steve Bell * Guardian *We need more political cartoonists like Kate Evans. She is an artist who lives her art and a radical who lives her politics . she can write about revolution, not as a historical object, but as a real, relevant, living thing, because Kate is herself a revolutionary. -- Seth Tobocman, author and artist of Disaster and ResistanceStunningly good. -- Paul Mason, author of PostcapitalismRed Rosa is a wonderfully composed and lively book. The story it tells is compelling, inspirational and fundamentally human. Instructional in its politics and discussions of economics, Red Rosa is also at turns humorous, romantic, and emotional. The decision to write this work in the graphic novel form was a brilliant one; if there is a biography whose multiple dimensions requires more than words to tell it, Rosa Luxembourg's is such a biography. -- Ron Jacobs * Counterpunch *The book has an infectious quality and an embracing enthusiasm for revolutionary ideas. It's a perfect historic complement to the ongoing radicalisation of the Labour Party. An empowering read for would-be revolutionaries as much as for 'old hands.' * Morning Star *Evans startles and inspires with her beautiful symbiosis of graphic and text. It is not tragedy that Evans ends with, the tragedy of Rosa's death at the age of forty-seven and the violence of the next decades it portended, but rather the inspiration she left to her comrades and the inspiration she can still bring to those who long for change. * Bookslut *Kate Evans' striking pairing of word and image to tell Luxemburg's story is so perfect that it seems surprising that no one has thought of it before. -- Sophie Mayer * The F Word *If you have ever wanted to learn about Rosa Luxemburg, this book is the perfect entry point . Kate Evans has made the stirring story of Rosa Luxemburg's legacy accessible to a new generation of readers. No matter how powerful the adversaries or steep the challenge, Luxemburg's passion for social and economic justice remained. -- Randy Shaw * Beyond Chron *[Evans's] storytelling is a clever mix of humor, pathos, politics, and the horrors of war . [a] compelling story of a strong, independent woman who never deviated from her beliefs. * Booklist *If it were a movie, you might call Red Rosa a tour de force, but that would be short-changing it. Red Rosa is a gripping, wonderfully illustrated account of Rosa Luxemburg the person, but more importantly a straightforward and intellectually honest introduction to her politics and her theoretical contributions. It embodies everything implied by the phrase 'Marxismus theorie und praxis.' * Los Angeles Review of Books *A stirring and beautiful book . Red Rosa is of more than biographical or aesthetic interest as an introduction to Rosa Luxembourg's ideas. Its massive appendix, providing lengthy quotations from source material for every citation in the comic, is an education in itself. * Chicago Tribune *Luxemburg's journey out of Poland to becoming a leader of the German Communist uprising certainly contains enough excitement to fill the pages of a graphic novel. A lively history of Luxemberg's life and fine blend of Evans' other areas of thematic interests of feminism, class tensions and womanhood. * Broadly *A unique format that is as informed and informative as it is absolutely absorbing from beginning to end. * Midwest Book Review *Revolutionary in her intellect, viewpoints, and sociosexual life, Luxemburg more than earns her place among women of the past century whose acts were precedent-shattering. * Library Journal *Offers an intimate view of the woman behind the revolutionary icon. * Exberliner Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIn the history of European revolutions, the barricade stands as a glorious emblem. Its symbolic importance arises principally from the barricades of Eric Hazan's native Paris, where they were instrumental in the revolts of the nineteenth century, helping to shape the political life of a continent.The barricade was always a makeshift construction (the word derives from barrique or barrel), and in working-class districts these ersatz fortifications could spread like wildfire. They doubled as a stage, from which insurgents could harangue soldiers and subvert their allegiance. Their symbolic power persisted into May 1968 and, more recently, the Occupy movements.Hazan traces the many stages in the barricade's evolution, from the Wars of Religion through to the Paris Commune, drawing on the work of thinkers throughout the periods examined to illustrate and bring to life the violent practicalities of revolutionary uprising.Trade ReviewHazan's account combines some fine vignettes about particular revolutionary episodes with a telling eye for detail; the maps of the different insurrections are also handy. -- Sudhir Hazareesingh * Times Literary Supplement *Indeed, until I read Eric Hazan's fascinating book, I too used to think that it was only during the French Revolution that the barricade stopped being a purely civilian object,designed primarily "to prevent admittance," like a modern swing-beam-type barrier or a turnstile. I was wrong. I feel like quoting endlessly from this revealing compact book, which, on top of everything else, is beautifully written and no-less beautifully translated. The idea of tracing centuries of tempestuous European history by looking just at one significant engineering object strikes me as brilliant. This little volume will find a prominent place in the 'golden shelf' of my favourite books of all time. -- Vitali Vitaliev * E&T Magazine *Hazan's short sharp book rises and falls like a battle cry and a keen of mourning both at once (...) For all the twilittonalities of Hazan's book, there is something joyous about it. It affirms that one of the options available to common people, one chosen over and over in the most desolate situations, is fighting back. -- Joshua Clover * LA Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisOn the centenary of the Russian Revolution, China Miéville tells the extraordinary story of this pivotal moment in history.In February of 1917 Russia was a backwards, autocratic monarchy, mired in an unpopular war; by October, after not one but two revolutions, it had become the world's first workers' state, straining to be at the vanguard of global revolution. How did this unimaginable transformation take place?In a panoramic sweep, stretching from St Petersburg and Moscow to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire, Miéville uncovers the catastrophes, intrigues and inspirations of 1917, in all their passion, drama and strangeness. Intervening in long-standing historical debates, but told with the reader new to the topic especially in mind, here is a breathtaking story of humanity at its greatest and most desperate; of a turning point for civilisation that still resonates loudly today.Trade ReviewMiéville is an ideal guide through this complex historical moment, giving agency to obscure and better-known participants alike, and depicting the revolution as both a tragically lost opportunity and an ongoing source of inspiration. * Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) *When one of the most marvellously original writers in the world takes on one of the most explosive events in history, the result can only be incendiary. -- Barbara EhrenreichThis gripping account is a re-enactment of the Russian Revolution ... His writing can be as passionate as that of the poets of the time: Alexander Blok, Mikhail Kuzmin, Marina Tsvetaeva, to mention some of those quoted here. Miéville's own special effects are of a piece with them. * Financial Times *An intriguing march to revolution, told here with clarity and insight. * Kirkus *Readers will be satisfied that October gives them the literary equivalent of bearing witness to world history. * Booklist *To give a new generation of readers a fresh account of the great revolution, incorporating all the post-1989 archival discoveries and scholarly research, is a singularly daunting task. To render it in vivid, oracular prose, moving across the pages with the gathering force of a hurricane, is something that only China Miéville could achieve. -- Mike DavisElegantly constructed and unexpectedly moving -- Sheila Fitzpatrick * London Review of Books *There are delightful grace notes here over and above a brisk and perceptive narrative. -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *Cinematic and vivid * Newsweek *It's as if John Reed, author of the classic piece of revolutionary journalism, Ten Days That Shook the World, woke from a decades-long sleep to tell the story of 1917 once again. * Counterpunch *Best Summer Books of 2017. * Publishers Weekly *Miéville sifts through the extraordinary disagreements, debates, and debacles that accompanied the Russian reds on every step of the road to revolution ... He's especially evocative when he chronicles the scenes on the chaotic streets. But much of the value of October comes in his mastery of how the intricacies of human decision-making play out in Petrograd, Moscow, and beyond. * Christian Science Monitor *An exciting account of the revolutionary moment... well-argued and elegiac * Spectator *[An] engaging retelling of the events that rocked the foundations of the twentieth century. * Village Voice *In October, Miéville provides an introduction to one of the seminal events of the 20th century-the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty and the establishment of the world's first communist state 100 years ago this year ... It has all the makings of a novel, and Miéville's narrative builds toward its crescendo as the Bolsheviks prepare to take power. * Boston Globe *Miéville's understanding of the intricacies and underlying absurdities of party politics is unmatched... A rich and compelling book. * Dallas Morning News *This is a very fine book-in some ways, I believe, the best work that China Miéville has produced since the three thick volumes of the Bas-Lag trilogy. Indeed, October bears, in certain respects, a deeper affinity to those novels than to anything else he has published since; and it thus provides a convenient opportunity to take stock of the Miéville oeuvre to date...That [October] is an excellent work of art there is no doubt whatever. -- Carl Freedman * Los Angeles Review of Books *Miéville, known for his extravagantly weird science fiction and fantasy, is a virtuosic storyteller; here he conjures a society convulsing on the verge of total transformation while staying squarely within the lines of the historical record. Reading this blow-by-blow account of revolution now, when political life is stranger than any fiction, is galvanizing. -- Rogert White * Artsy *There are workers, there are peasants, there are soldiers, there are parties, there are tsars, there are courtiers. Each of them bears his or her class position, his or her economic and other concerns, but it is the political field itself, how it hurls its protagonists into combat, combat with its own rules and norms, its own criteria for success and failure, that is front and center here. This may be the most textured, most concrete, account of what political contest and political combat, literal and metaphoric, feels like. -- Corey RobinOctober's dramatic narrative makes the case that the effort is still worth it - that we must dare to dream, even if we risk conjuring more nightmares in this darkening world. -- Alci Rengifo * Los Angeles Review of Books *As an outstanding piece of literature, China Miéville's October belongs on the same shelf as John Reed's eyewitness classic Ten Days That Shook the World, but even more it belongs in the hands of activists who will be shaking the world in the twenty-first century. -- Paul Le Blanc * International Socialist Review *There is interest in reading the story of 'that violent and incomparable year' told by one who hopes against hope that it could happen again. -- Rob Doyle * Irish Times *China Miéville's literary retelling-made to feel like a novel, but scrupulously sourced to real events-captures the vertigo of 1917's encounter between massive historical forces, plunging us back into the heart of a far-reaching social upheaval, in which time flowed backward and forward even as it marched inexorably forward toward a future that was radically unknown. -- David Sessions * The New Republic *Even though you know the ending, this is a compulsive page-turner that makes the period come alive in rich, colourful detail. Although he is better known for his science fiction, Miéville's eye here fleshes out both the spirit of revolution and the horrors that followed. His feelings are evidently complex, which leads to a narrative that draws out elements often left out of more traditional renderings of the Revolution. -- Caroline Magennis * Times Higher Education *A century on, the nature of the Russian Revolution remains hotly contested, both within and outside of leftist circles. Miéville, a master storyteller, makes a powerful case in his first nonfiction work that the Bolsheviks' October success should not be disavowed as the onset of disaster but looked to as an inspirational moment in a grand narrative of human liberation. * Publishers Weekly *Named One of the Best Books of the Year by Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *The story is old but Miéville retells it with verve and empathy. He brilliantly captures the tensions of coup and counter-coup and the kaleidoscope of coalitions that formed and then broke. * Guardian *An inspirational account that lends itself to troubled times. * Observer *October, by the British author China Miéville, is a gripping account of the Russian Revolution that offers the pleasures and rewards of a great novel ... The book has vividly drawn characters, high drama, suspense, and an irresistible narrative momentum that sweeps the reader along from the first page to the tragic - but not inevitable - conclusion ... a masterful work. -- George de Stefano * Pop Matters *

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In February of 1917 Russia was a backward, autocratic monarchy, mired in an unpopular war; by October, after not one but two revolutions, it had become the world's first workers' state, straining to be at the vanguard of global revolution. How did this unimaginable transformation take place?In a panoramic sweep, stretching from St Petersburg and Moscow to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire, Miéville uncovers the catastrophes, intrigues and inspirations of 1917, in all their passion, drama and strangeness. Intervening in long-standing historical debates, but told with the reader new to the topic especially in mind, here is a breathtaking story of humanity at its greatest and most desperate; of a turning point for civilisation that still resonates loudly today. China Miéville tells the extraordinary story of this pivotal moment in history.

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Book Synopsis Putting Greece back on the cultural and political map of the “Long 1960s,” this book traces the dissent and activism of anti-regime students during the dictatorship of the Colonels (1967-74). It explores the cultural as well as ideological protest of Greek student activists, illustrating how these “children of the dictatorship” managed to re-appropriate indigenous folk tradition for their “progressive” purposes and how their transnational exchange molded a particular local protest culture. It examines how the students’ social and political practices became a major source of pressure on the Colonels’ regime, finding its apogee in the three day Polytechnic uprising of November 1973 which laid the foundations for a total reshaping of Greek political culture in the following decades. Trade Review “This long-anticipated… publication signals the beginning of a potentially fruitful and certainly long overdue examination of the 1960s and 1970s in Greece. After so many years of discussions and debates on the Greek Civil War, the time for a careful consideration of the junta and its afterlife seems to have finally come. Kornetis offers an enormously productive entry point by exploring the issue that is analytically most central and socially most sensitive concerning this period: resistance and its counterpart, complicity. For anyone with an interest in the period or in the broad range of theoretical issues raised by its study, Children of the Dictatorship is an indispensible book that is sure to anchor future discussion and debate of the military regime.” · Journal of Modern Greek Studies “There is no doubt that Kostis Kornetis’s monograph is a pioneering work, the result of pathbreaking research on a subject little known to an English readership. But even for a Greek readership, especially Greek scholars and readers familiar with the subject, it is thought-provoking, challenging established views and myths regarding this historical period in Greece.” · Journal of Modern History “…an important and timely book… on a topic that has been overlooked for too long; Kornetis engages with a very productive methodology, and he manages to elucidate a process that, although it appears intuitive, is actually very complex. I will be using this book for both undergraduate and graduate classes, and I will be going back to its material for a long time to come. Read it; it is a gem.” · The Oral History Review “One cannot help to admire how Kornetis traces changes in the production and distribution of music, literature and non-fiction books, theatre and film as well as changes in lifestyle and gender relations. Moreover, he links such changes with the increasing radicalism of students and with the windows of opportunity for political mobilization that the Colonels’ regime opened, alternatively experimenting with liberalization and oppression, until its demise in July 1974. Kornetis, writing as a mature academic already in his first monograph, reconstructs the linkages between culture and politics of the 1967–1974 era and knows how to tell a good story too.” · Southeast European and Black Sea Studies “What is of great significance is the fact that a comparative perspective is adopted at times, which gives Kornetis the opportunity to avoid an ethnocentric interpretation of events… Kornetis manages to offer a book of the highest standards. It is an impressive work that represents a genuinely innovative and well-balanced contribution not only to the field of Modern Greek history, but also to social and student movements.” · Political Studies “Kornetis’ book breaks new ground because it is the first systematic attempt to historicise the student movement under the dictatorship. By using a variety of sources, he carefully reconstructs the historical events and discusses in depth the students’ experience and memory of their political engagement in different instances… indispensable for all scholars of the 1960s.” · Historein “Kornetis makes a valuable contribution by providing a deeper understanding of the repertoires of protest activity at the time, as well as a better grasp of the ones that followed… provides a useful and original analysis for anyone who wants to understand the demise of authoritarianism in the European South in the mid-1970s and the origins of the Metapolitefsi period in Greece.” · American Historical Review “The book is a pioneer study in its field. Besides offering a rigorous historical reconstruction, it presents an excellent analysis of the relationship between institutional and contentious politics through different regimes and periods. The book offers a clear historical reconstruction and an innovative theoretical reflection. For this, it might be an interesting reading not only for experts – students, scholars, or journalists – but also for a more general public interested in such events.” · Democratization “This is a well-written and concise book that fills a lacuna in English-speaking literature on the 1960s and 1970s in Greece. It critically reconstructs the spirit of that age through the individual stories that Kornetis managed to collect—a difficult task since many key personalities of the student movement remain silent while its grassroots militants have internalized the Revolt as a trauma. Kornetis skillfully analyses the cultural saga that promoted the radicalization of the Polytechnic generation.” · Journal of Contemporary European Studies

 “Kornetis convincingly argues in favor of placing the Greek case and, by extension, the Spanish and Portuguese ones, within the framework of the protest cycle of the ‘long sixties.’ The author rejects exceptionalism and proposes a more nuanced approach, according to which one should retain both the differences and similarities of national cases, keeping at the same time an eye on their interconnectedness and the emergence of processes of contagion on a global scale. Therefore, Children of the Dictatorship is of definite interest and its translation to Spanish or Portuguese is more than desirable.” · Segle XX. Revista catalana d’història “This book constitutes the political and intellectual biography of what is schematically call ‘Polytechnic Generation.’ The author looks at both the actual events and their protagonists and captures the interconnection between private ‘micro-history’ and ‘grand’ political events.” · Epistimi kai Koinonia “Kostis Kornetis’ book on the Greek student movement of the 1960s demonstrates masterfully how mass education and the corresponding lack of job prospects for new graduates in an underdeveloped country, rather than helping to homogenize a student body supposedly united by shared circumstances, instead exacerbated its differences.” · European Journal of Turkish Studies “Kornetis’s approach, beyond its originality and the sheer number of sources that it uses, offers insights into this generation and its historic role through the questions posed by a younger scholar with no personal involvement in this meaningful and highly charged period. The book’s empirical research delightfully captures the era’s historical context, providing at the same time a guide to the organizational and ideological contours of each student group.” · Anagnoseis “…[A]n outstanding political, social, and cultural history of youthful opposition to the Greek military dictatorship. It is thoroughly researched, thoughtfully crafted, theoretically rich, and beautifully written. It will immediately be an important text for those studying the global history of the 1960s, international manifestations of a new youth culture that emerged in the last third of the twentieth century, and the history of modern Greece.” · James N. Green, Brown University “This is the first book in English that presents the history of the Greek youth that staged the most spectacular resistance to the 1967-1974 dictatorship, the ‘Polytechnic’ generation. Kornetis manages to contextualize the Greek youth movement within the cultural and political movements of the ‘Long 1960s,’ without losing touch with the specificity of the Greek sociopolitical developments.” · Dimitris Papanikolaou, St. Cross College, Oxford “[A] signal contribution to the fields of the history of the ‘Long 1960s’ as well as of protest research in Europe.” · Nikolaos Papadogiannis, Humboldt University, BerlinTable of Contents List of Figures Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1. A Changing Society Universities between Progression and Regression Student Activism Teds and yé-yés: Youth culture Generation Z Continuities and ruptures in contentious politics Chapter 2. Phoenix with a Bayonet Passivity, Consensus, Resistance Tidying up the university ’68 as a point of reference Life is Elsewhere: Greek Students Abroad “The first square meters of liberated Greek soil” The Greek Carbonari Home-grown revolutionaries The terrible solitude of Rigas Feraios The historical generation retires Chapter 3. A Mosquito on a Bull Competing youth cultures Heirs and defectors Tale of two cities Political opportunities Technocracy and its discontents Marx’s children The Reformists The Robespierres The “other” among student groups Chapter 4. Cultural Warfare Media and Publishing Strategies The arrival of the 3 M’s in Colonels’ Greece Cinema as a Gun “Tickets to freedom”: Theater The musical culture wars Gendered militancy and “sexual revolution” Revolutionizing everyday life Chapter 5. Ten Months that Shook Greece The Movement Gains Prestige “Anything But May ’68”: The Law School occupations The Cost of Participation A “glocal” movement The mission of the youth “This is what Revolution must be like”: The Polytechnic events The copycat occupation After the Revolution Metapolitefsi and beyond Epilogue “Everything Links” Events Medium-length: Utopias and outcomes Future’s past: Cultural changes Bibliography Interviews Periodicals Archives Published Sources Secondary Sources Film Documentaries Television Documentaries Music

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Book SynopsisThis socialist history of modern Greece tells the story of its rebirth in struggle, the heroic resistance to Nazi occupation, the civil war and its aftermath, the colonels' dictatorship and its overthrow, the rise and fall of PASOK, the debt crisis, the popular uprising of 2010-12, the election of SYRIZA, the referendum and the subsequent capitulation. What lessons can Greece's experience teach those campaigning against austerity throughout Europe? This book includes an Appendix by Eric Toussaint.

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Book SynopsisThey did so in the midst of the 1984 miners' strike - the most bitter and divisive dispute for more than half a century, and in one of the most turbulent periods in modern British history. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher's hardcore social and fiscal policies devastated Britain's traditional industries, and at the same time, AIDS began to claim lives across the nation. At the very height of this perfect storm, as the government and police battled 'the enemy within' in communities across the land and newspapers whipped up fear of the gay 'perverts' who were supposedly responsible for inflicting this lethal new pestilence upon the entire population, two groups who ostensibly had nothing in common - miners and homosexuals - unexpectedly made a stand together and forged a lasting friendship. It was an alliance which helped keep an entire valley clothed and fed during the darkest months of the strike. And it led directly to a long-overdue acceptance by trades unions and the Labour Party that homosexual equality was a cause to be championed. Pride tells the inspiring true story of how two very different communities - each struggling to overcome its own bitter internal arguments and long established fault lines, as well as facing the power of a hostile government and press - found common cause against overwhelming odds. And how this one simple but unlikely act of friendship would, in time, help change life in Britain - forever.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the HWA Sharpe Books Non-Fiction Crown AwardA work of investigative history that will completely change the way in which we see the Romanov story. Finally, here is the truth about the secret plans to rescue Russia’s last imperial family.On 17 July 1918, the whole of the Russian Imperial Family was murdered. There were no miraculous escapes. The former Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their children – Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey – were all tragically gunned down in a blaze of bullets. Historian Helen Rappaport sets out to uncover why the Romanovs’ European royal relatives and the Allied governments failed to save them. It was not, ever, a simple case of one British King’s loss of nerve. In this race against time, many other nations and individuals were facing political and personal challenges of the highest order.In this incredible detective story, Rappaport draws on an unprecedented range of unseen sources, tracking down missing documents, destroyed papers and covert plots to liberate the family by land, sea and even sky. Through countless twists and turns, this revelatory work unpicks many false claims and conspiracies, revealing the fiercest loyalty, bitter rivalries and devastating betrayals as the Romanovs, imprisoned, awaited their fate.A remarkable new work of history from Helen Rappaport, author of Ekaterinburg: The Last Days of the Romanovs.Trade ReviewI read The Race to Save the Romanovs in more or less in a single sitting. It’s absolutely marvellous – packed with details, beautifully paced and told me lots of things I didn’t know. -- PETER FRANKOPANWhat I always love about Helen Rappaport’s books is that they appeal to the heart as well as the head. She’s a writer of great compassion. -- LUCY WORSLEYA groundbreaking book... [which] prove[s] that, even as the centenary of their deaths by firing squad at Ekaterinburg approaches... there remain fresh angles and, crucially, unused evidence pertaining to the Romanovs. * The Daily Telegraph *Highly entertaining... Rappaport introduces us to a colourful array of con men, charlatans and fantasists involved in ideas to free the Romanovs... She is a vivid storyteller -- Victor Sebestyen * Sunday Times *Gripping... Rappaport has uncovered many missing pieces in the story, from the diplomatic wrangling over the tsar’s fate to a number of "hare-brained" rescue schemes hatched by monarchist sympathisers. * The Times *

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Book Synopsis__________________________'The universal significance of this historic event becomes ever more relevant in our own turbulent times.' MIKE LEIGH, director of the award-winning film Peterloo__________________________The Peterloo Massacre is a revealing and compelling account of one of the darkest days in Britain's social history.On 16 August 1819, a strong force of yeomanry and regular cavalry charged into a crowd of more than 100,000 workers who had gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester for a meeting about Parliamentary reform.Many were killed. This violent, startling event became known as Peterloo, one of the darkest days in Britain’s social history.The Peterloo Massacre provides a revealing narrative account of the events leading up to Peterloo, starkly describes the actions of that fateful day, and examines its aftermath. It offers a new perspective on the political and military activities of the time, and shows how the very nature of society was powerfully influenced by irreversible technological change: a pattern that, two-hundred years later, still has relevance in understanding the forces shaping our world today.__________________________'One of our nation's defining moments.' STUART MACONIE'Vivid and rather brilliant.' THE TIMES'an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers' EVENING CHRONICLE'There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Robert Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people.' CAMDEN JOURNALTrade ReviewVivid and rather brilliant. * The Times *The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers . . . Mr Reid’s definitive account of Peterloo is splendidly written. * Evening Chronicle *There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people. * Camden Journal *[A] magnificent volume of dramatic history. * Manchester Evening News *From an awe-inspiring range of sources Dr Reid has constructed a narrative that reads like a political thriller in which numerous threads are drawn together in the bloody climax. Each character is fleshed out with his ambitions, abilities and achievements . . . [A] devastatingly comprehensive epic . . . The book will inform and invigorate anyone with an interest in history, drawing intriguing parallels with contemporary ideology. * Newbury Weekly News *

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Book Synopsis"Without Lenin there would have been no socialist revolution in 1917. Of this much we can be certain."Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the October 1917 uprising, is one of the most misunderstood leaders of the twentieth century. In his own time, there were many, even among his enemies, who acknowledged the full magnitude of his intellectual and political achievements. But his legacy has been lost in misinterpretation; he is worshipped but rarely read.On the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Tariq Ali explores the two major influences on Lenin's thought-the turbulent history of Tsarist Russia and the birth of the international labour movement-and explains how Lenin confronted dilemmas that still cast a shadow over the present. Is terrorism ever a viable strategy? Is support for imperial wars ever justified? Can politics be made without a party? Was the seizure of power in 1917 morally justified? Should he have parted company from his wife and lived with his lover?In The Dilemmas of Lenin, Ali provides an insightful portrait of Lenin's deepest preoccupations and underlines the clarity and vigour of his theoretical and political formulations. He concludes with an affecting account of Lenin's last two years, when he realized that "we knew nothing" and insisted that the revolution had to be renewed lest it wither and die.Trade ReviewReading this book on your vacation will make your life better and your mind broader. -- Branko MilanovicAli encourages the reader to take a fresh look at Lenin's choices in the context of a repressive autocracy, the poverty and misery of the bulk of the population under tsarism and the industrialised slaughter of the first world war. What underpins his book is the view that October was an "innocent and utopian birth" that was subsequently "twisted" into Stalinism by three devastating years of civil war. -- Daniel Beer * Guardian *A powerful tool for those wanting to understand the real Lenin and therefore the real politics behind those revolutionaries who fought so hard but ultimately failed in their goal. -- Lindsey German * Counterfire *[The Dilemmas of Lenin] aims to rescue Lenin from both liberal caricature and Soviet hagiography by recovering the realism and dynamism of his political thought. -- David Sessions * The New Republic *An incredibly powerful, panoramic, and insightful study of the central revolutionary figure of the twentieth century ... The Dilemmas of Lenin helps attentive readers comprehend something of what happened in history, the realities of our time, and how the future could unfold if we approach it with understanding and commitment. -- Paul Le Blanc * International Socialist Review *

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Book SynopsisVladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the October 1917 uprising, is one of the most misunderstood leaders of the twentieth century. In his own time, there were many, even among his enemies, who acknowledged the full magnitude of his intellectual and political achievements. But his legacy has been lost in misinterpretation; he is worshipped but rarely read.Tariq Ali explores the two major influences on Lenin's thought - the turbulent history of Tsarist Russia and the birth of the international labour movement - and explains how Lenin confronted dilemmas that still cast a shadow over the present. Is terrorism ever a viable strategy? Is support for imperial wars ever justified? Can politics be made without a party? Was the seizure of power in 1917 morally justified? Should he have parted company from his wife and lived with his lover?In The Dilemmas of Lenin, Ali provides an insightful portrait of Lenin's deepest preoccupations and underlines the clarity and vigour of his theoretical and political formulations. He concludes with an affecting account of Lenin's last two years, when he realized that "we knew nothing" and insisted that the revolution had to be renewed lest it wither and die.Trade ReviewReading this book on your vacation will make your life better and your mind broader. -- Branko Milanovic, * author of Global Inequalities *Ali encourages the reader to take a fresh look at Lenin's choices in the context of a repressive autocracy, the poverty and misery of the bulk of the population under tsarism and the industrialised slaughter of the first world war. What underpins his book is the view that October was an "innocent and utopian birth" that was subsequently "twisted" into Stalinism by three devastating years of civil war. -- Daniel Beer * Guardian *A powerful tool for those wanting to understand the real Lenin and therefore the real politics behind those revolutionaries who fought so hard but ultimately failed in their goal. -- Lindsey German * Counterfire *

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Book SynopsisThis influential collection explores the pivotal texts and topics in the Marxist tradition. Ranging over questions of social theory, political theory, moral philosophy and literary criticism, it looks at the thought of Marx and Trotsky, Luxemburg, Lenin and Althusser. They include Geras's influential and widely-cited treatment of fetishism in Capital, his comprehensive review of recent debates on Marxism and justice, discussions on political organisation, revolutionary mass action and party pluralism, and a novel analysis of the literary power of Trotsky's writing. In close dialogue with common themes and arguments in the literature of revolutionary Marxism, Geras brings some of his persistent preoccupations to the fore; with the normative foundations and some of the epistemological assumptions of this tradition, with issues of socialist democracy, working class self-education and emancipation.Trade Review[For Marx and Human Nature] This remarkable short book deserves to be widely read and not only by those interested in Marxology. For it achieves something rare in its field: rationally compelling proof. Not only does it conclusively refute a widely current legend about Marx's thought . it does so with striking elegance, economy, and argumentative power. * Times Literary Supplement *[For The Legacy of Rosa Luxembourg] This is a useful and thoughtful book, in which the power and originality of Rosa Luxemburg's thinking emerges." -- E H Carr * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisPreface by Jesse Benjamin and the Walter Rodney FoundationIntroduction by Robin D.G. KelleyAfterword by Vijay PrashadIn his short life, the Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney emerged as one of the leading revolutionary thinkers of the Black Sixties. He became a leading force of dissent throughout the Caribbean and a lightning rod of controversy. The 1968 Rodney Riots erupted in Jamaica when he was prevented from returning to his teaching post at the University of the West Indies. In 1980, Rodney was assassinated in Guyana, reportedly at the behest of the government. In the mid-'70s, Rodney taught a course on the Russian Revolution at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. A Pan-Africanist and Marxist, Rodney sought to make sense of the reverberations of the October Revolution in a decolonising world marked by Third World revolutionary movements. He intended to publish a book based on his research and teaching. Now historians Jesse Benjamin, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Vijay Prashad have edited Rodney's polished chapters and unfinished lecture notes, presenting the book that Rodney had hoped to publish in his lifetime.1917 is a signal event in radical publishing, and will inaugurate Verso's standard edition of Walter Rodney's works.

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Book SynopsisThis collection is the first of three volumes of the Complete Works devoted to the central theme of Rosa Luxemburg's life and work-revolution. Spanning the years 1897 to the end of 1905, they contain speeches, articles, and essays on the strikes, protests, and political debates that culminated in the 1905 Russian Revolution-one of the most important social upheavals of modern times. Luxemburg's near-daily articles and reports during 1905 on the ongoing revolution (which comprises the bulk of this volume) shed new light on such issues as the relation of spontaneity and organization, the role of national minorities in social revolution, and the inseparability ofthe struggle for socialism from revolutionary democracy. We become witness to Luxemburg's effort to respond to the impulses, challenges, and ideas arising from a living revolutionary process, which in turn becomes the source of much of her subsequent political theory-such as her writings on the mass strike, her strident internationalism, and her insistence that revolutionary struggle never take its eyes off of the need to transform the human personality.Virtually all of these writings appear in English for the first time (translated from both German and Polish) and many have only recently been identified as having been written by Luxemburg.Trade ReviewThe moment has clearly come for a return to Rosa Luxemburg. -- Jacqueline Rose * London Review of Books *Praise for The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg:Combining revolutionary fire, sharp polemics, biting irony, sparkling humour, broad historical vision, as well as profound humanity, intimate friendship and burning love, full of poetical images borrowed from Goethe, Mörike, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and other Romantics, these letters are an amazing testimony of the charm and fascination of her personality. -- Michael Löwy * Critique *One of the most emotionally intelligent socialists in modern history, a radical of luminous dimension whose intellect is informed by sensibility, and whose largeness of spirit places her in the company of the truly impressive. -- Vivian Gornick * Nation *One cannot read the writings of Rosa Luxemburg, even at this distance, without an acute yet mournful awareness of what Perry Anderson once termed 'the history of possibility.' -- Christopher Hitchens * Atlantic *Luxemburg's criticism of Marxism as dogma and her stress on consciousness exerted an influence on the women's liberation movement which emerged in the late '60s and early '70s. -- Sheila Rowbotham * Guardian *Rosa goes on being our source of fresh water in thirsty times. -- Eduardo GaleanoIntrepid, incorruptible, passionate and gentle. Imagine as you read between the lines of what she wrote, the expression of her eyes. She loved workers and birds. She danced with a limp. Everything about her fascinates and rings true. One of the immortals. -- John Berger

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Book SynopsisIn the Summer of 1973, workers occupied the Lip watch and clock factory, sparking a national cause and controversy. The Lip occupation and self-management experience captured the imagination of the Left in France and internationally, as a living example of the spirit of May '68. In Opening the Gates, Donald Reid chronicles the history of this struggle. Beginning with the early stirrings of worker radicalism in 1968, Reid's meticulously researched narrative details the nationally publicised conflict of 1973, the second bankruptcy and occupation of 1976 and the conversion of Lip into a group of cooperatives operating into the 1980s.Trade ReviewCompelling -- John Harris * Guardian *Donald Reid's magisterial reconstruction of the Lip "affair" of the 1970s restores a crucial and neglected storyline about the long 1968. -- Julian Bourg, Boston University * H-France Salon *Donald Reid's book, carefully documented with a mass of detail, is to be welcomed for reminding us of an enthralling page from working-class history. -- Ian Birchall * rs21 *A must-read for historians, Reid's study will also open up for general readers the atmosphere of a time so far in the past that it is forgotten, yet so near that history has yet to remember it. -- William M. Reddy, Duke UniversitySome fifty years on from 1968, Donald Reid rightly identifies Lip 1973 as an important landmark in "the last widespread expression in France of a belief in the creativity and moral universe of workers engaged in labor conflicts as the driving force of social transformation." Reid's careful reconstruction of the Lip factory occupation, using an impressive array of archival materials and oral history interviews, vividly recreates the hopes, the excitement, the vicissitudes, and the disappointments of this turning point in French labor history. A must read for historians, Reid's study will also open up for general readers the atmosphere of a time so far in the past that it is forgotten, yet so near that history has yet to remember it. -- William M. Reddy, William T. Laprade Professor of History and Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke UniversityThis gripping and beautifully researched book may well be the definitive work on the Lip Affaire - that heroic struggle of French workers who in 1973-74 transformed their company into a combative self-administered community. Donald Reid's encompassing reconstruction is not only empathetic and political; it is also a significant contribution to French social history "from below" between May 68 and the beginning of Mitterand's presidency in 1981. -- Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social HistoryPraise for The Miners of Decazeville:Few books that I have read provide such a thorough and well-documented demonstration of the dynamic interrelationship between capitalism and the state and the complexity of the challenge presented to labor in seeking to struggle against their combined force. This is illuminating history. -- Christopher Johnson * The Journal of Social History *What stands out is [Opening the Gates's] thrilling retelling of an occupation and its reminder to us that there are many different ways to live and work. * Socialist Review *Although I have been living in France for the past ten years, I regret to say that the Lip Affair was unknown to me until now, but having read Donald Reid's description of what transpired, I can understand why. It is simply stunning how the mass media arbitrarily select those events in society which they want to highlight, and those which they want to ignore 'in the interests of the viewer.' I am convinced that the 'gate-keeper' policy of the mass media is one of the primary reasons why the public in general today remain detached from many key issues facing the planet, including consumerism, social inequality, and the onrushing environmental disaster. The multiple issues still confronting women today are of course foremost in my mind when I write this. The ways in which the Lip workers-as Reid describes-confronted their problems, including their strategies in dealing with the media, are therefore truly inspiring, and this book clearly deserves the widest possible dissemination across the social and political spectrum. -- Peter Watkins, Film DirectorDonald Reid has not just written a masterpiece of modern labor history. His brilliant narrative about the Lip workers who ran their own factory makes clear that they were blazing a new direction for the left. Although their experiment in self-management did not survive, it should inspire anyone who believes in the democratization of everyday life. When workers in the middle of France leaped beyond being just employees or aggrieved strikers, they showed that another world might indeed be possible. -- Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University and editor, DissentDon Reid's history of the protracted struggle of workers in the Lip watch factory is the most comprehensive and imaginative account that exists in English or French. What one worker called "the perfume of self-management" wafts through the pages of this book, bringing alive the movement that defined social upheaval in France in the long 1960s. -- Kristin Ross, author of Communal LuxuryIn 1973, French workers at the Lip watch factory in Besançon occupied their bankrupt plant and launched a movement that became a cause célèbre, attracting the attention of politicians, intellectuals, religious leaders, labor organizers, and ordinary citizens. In this magnificently detailed book, historian Donald Reid traces the origins of the movement and follows it through to its dénouement. It will surely be the definitive work on what may have been the last attempt by workers anywhere in the West to demonstrate that self-management was not a pipe dream but a genuine alternative to actually existing capitalism. -- Arthur Goldhammer, Translator and Senior Affiliate at Harvard's Center for European StudiesSophisticated ... a major contribution to the history of workers' control. * French History *For anyone wishing to learn about France (and, in fact, Europe) in the 1970s, Opening the Gates will be required reading for years to come. -- Gerd Rainer-Horn * Journal of Modern History *Don Reid's excellent book is happily something of a "throw-back" study to the 1970s -- John Merriman * The Historian *Opening the Gates is a lasting and remarkable account of French labor -- George Ross * French Politics, Culture & Society *

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