Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions Books

Book SynopsisLenin's originality and importance as a revolutionary leader is most often associated with the seizure of power in 1917. But, Zizek argues in his new study and collection of original texts, Lenin's true greatness can be better grasped in the very last couple of years of his political life. Russia had survived foreign invasion, embargo and a terrifying civil war, as well as internal revolts such as at Kronstadt in 1921. But the new state was exhausted, isolated and disorientated in the face of the world revolution that seemed to be receding. New paths had to be sought, almost from scratch, for the Soviet state to survive and imagine some alternative route to the future. With his characteristic brio and provocative insight, Zizek suggests that Lenin's courage as a thinker can be found in his willingness to face this reality of retreat lucidly and frontally.Trade ReviewScience & Society -- Alan Shandro

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines key cases of terrorist violence to show that the invention of terrorism was linked to the birth of modernity in Europe, Russia and the United States, rather than to Tsarist despotism in 19th century Russia or to Islam sects in Medieval Persia. Combining a highly readable historical narrative with analysis of larger issues in social and political history, the author argues that the dissemination of news about terrorist violence was at the core of a strategy that aimed for political impact on rulers as well as the general public. Dietze's lucid account also reveals how the spread of knowledge about terrorist acts was, from the outset, a transatlantic process. Two incidents form the book's centerpiece. The first is the failed attempt to assassinate French Emperor Napoléon III by Felice Orsini in 1858, in an act intended to achieve Italian unity and democracy. The second case study offers a new reading of John Brown's raid on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859, as a decisive moment in the abolitionist struggle and occurrences leading to the American Civil War. Three further examples from Germany, Russia, and the US are scrutinized to trace the development of the tactic by first imitators. With their acts of violence, the "invention" of terrorism was completed. Terrorism has existed as a tactic since then and has essentially only been adapted through the use of new technologies and methods.Trade Review"The book builds an extraordinarily careful argument about the specificities of context in the 1850s and 60s necessary to an understanding of how terrorism as a distinctive body of political thinking and practice arrived in the modern world, focusing on the field of understanding that coalesced around "freedom, nation and violence" in the epoch framed by the French Revolution and Revolutions of 1848. It does not fall into common trap of the available literatures, viz. to approach the 'genealogies' from an excessively presentist point of view. Instead, Dietze approaches the 1850s and 60s as a generative crucible for the conjunction of ideas and influences that need to be very carefully historicized as such if we're to have any chance of understanding the subsequent intellectual and political histories concerned. In its willingness to engage explicitly and at length with the literatures in political science as well as the writing theoretically about terrorism in general, Dietze's book has unusual strength for a historian."The book is impressively "transnational" in the terms that have become aspiringly normative for so many theoretically self-aware and ambitious historians during the past decade.""Dietze brilliantly makes these familiar and well-established histories and perceptions strange.""Another vital and original aspect of the study is its emphasis on media history and the particular characteristics of the mid 19th century public sphere -- BOTH in terms of the circulatory conditions needed for the transnational quality of the history she's trying to reconstruct AND for the key argument she's making about impact and reception. In other words, this is partly an argument about mechanics and the particular means of transmission and circulation. But it's also about the ontological grounds of political thought and political agency created out of this remarkable transnational circuitry." -- Geoff Eley, Karl Pohrt Distinguished University Professor of Contemporary History at the University of MichiganThis book may well revolutionize our understanding of the origins of terrorism in the 19th century. In highly original fashion, it closely links together the actions of terrorists in France, Russia, and the United States and shows how between 1858 and 1866 two key terrorists influenced three copycats who altogether ignited the explosion of modern terrorism. The depth of Dietze's research, drawing upon archives not only in Europe and the United States, but also in Russia, is staggering. A must read for anyone interested in the history of terrorism. -- Richard Bach Jensen, Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University, author of The Battle against Anarchist Terrorism

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe analysis of May 68 in Paris, Berkeley, and the Western world has been widely reconsidered. But 1968 is not only a year that conjures up images of Paris, Frankfurt, or Milan. It is also the pivotal year for a new anti-colonial and anti-capitalist politics to erupt across the Third World - Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Japan's position - neither in "the West" nor in the "Third World" -provoked a complex and intense round of mass mobilizations through the 1960s and early 70s. The Japanese situation remains remarkably under-examined globally. Beginning in the late 1950s, a New Left, independent of the prewar Japanese communist moment (itself of major historical importance in the 1920s and 30s), came to produce one of the most vibrant decades of political organization, political thought, and political aesthetics in the global twentieth century. In the present volume, major thinkers of the Left in Japan alongside scholars of the 1968 movements reexamine the theoretical sources, historical background, cultural productions, and major organizational problems of the 1968 revolutions in Japan.Trade ReviewPraise for The Sublime Perversion of Capital:"What is capital? What is its relation with the 'world' and with the nation? What is its origin, its limit, and its 'other'? Reading the 'debate on Japanese capitalism' in the 1920s and 1930s against the grain of contemporary concerns, Gavin Walker invites us to a breathtaking intellectual journey. He provides a masterful interpretation of a crucial historical debate and makes a landmark contribution to our understanding of global capitalism and to the forging of a new project of liberation." -- Sandro Mezzadra, coauthor of, Border as Method, or, The Multiplication of LaborPraise for The Sublime Perversion of Capital: "Gavin Walker's superb The Sublime Perversion of Capital is a brilliantly imaginative recovery of Marx's worldly vocation and the original premises of historical materialism dedicated to combining the immediacy of local contemporary circumstances with the global reach of capital. He realizes this singularly vital program by reflecting on the writings of the economist Uno Kozo, especially his thinking on logic and history, as they intervened and culminated in the famous Marxian debate on capitalism in Japan's 1920s and 1930s in a context sparked by a rapidly uneven passage into capitalist modernity and its spillover into imperialism." -- Harry Harootunian, author of, Marx After Marx: History and Time in the Expansion of Capitalism

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor over twelve years in the first half of the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, lived, learned and fought in South America. He was tortured, escaped death on countless occasions, and met his Brazilian wife, Anita, who eloped with him in 1839. From then on, she would share in Garibaldi's personal and political odyssey, first in the breakaway republic of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, and then as Montevideo's admiral and general in the Uruguayan civil war. Richard Bourne breathes life and understanding into these spectacular South American adventures, which also shed light on the creation of Italy. Garibaldi's Redshirts liberated Sicily and Naples wearing ponchos adopted by his Italian Legion in Montevideo. His ideas, his charismatic command of volunteers, and his naive dislike of politicking were all infused by his earlier experiences in South America. Bourne combines historical research with his travels in Uruguay and southern Brazil to explore contemporary awareness of and reflection on how the past can influence or be transformed by the needs of today. Now, at a time of narrow identity politics, Garibaldi's unifying zeal and advocacy for subjugated peoples everywhere offer an exemplary lesson in transnational political idealism.Trade Review‘Bourne writes with attractive, straightforward enthusiasm … this is a useful history of Garibaldi’s unusual apprenticeship among the cowboys of South America.’ -- Literary Review'Offers a detailed account of Italian military general Garibaldi’s life, and how he later came to be known as a 'hero of two worlds'. …learned and informative.' -- The Wire‘Bourne succeeds in vividly describing what Garibaldi did during these formative years, what he learnt and brought back with him to Europe, what happened after he left South America and how he and Anita are remembered in South America and Italy.’ -- Cold Type'While chronicling Garibaldi's South American wars, this book analyses, in lively style, his reckless charisma, his marriage to the rebellious Anita and their controversial political legacies. Bourne reveals one of the most adventurous and inspiring characters of the nineteenth century.' -- David McLean, Emeritus Professor of History, King's College London'Bourne's personal, wide-ranging book illuminates Garibaldi's career as "Hero of Two Worlds": how he and fellow Italian exiles fought for freedom in South America, the impact on the struggle for Italian liberation, and Garibaldi's emergence as a European freedom fighter.' -- Spencer M. Di Scala, Professor of History Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Boston'Richard Bourne has written a vibrant book on General Garibaldi's stay in South America. Written with clarity and elegance, the author describes Garibaldi's life in Brazil and Uruguay and his participation in some important historical events that occurred in both countries during the XIX century. Then the author links the past with the present, in such a way that allows the reader to appreciate Garibaldi's legacy and makes very interesting reflections on the influence and controversies that Garibaldi still awakens in Brazil Uruguay.' -- Adjunct Professor Dr Enrique Hernandez Sierra, Faculty of Law, University of the Republic of Uruguay.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book offers a novel, incisive and wide- ranging account of Libya's '17 February Revolution' by tracing how critical towns, communities and political groups helped to shape its course. Each community, whether geographical (e.g. Misrata, Zintan), tribal/communal (e.g. Beni Walid) or political (e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood) took its own path into the uprisings and subsequent conflict of 2011, according to their own histories and relationship to Muammar Qadhafi's regime. The story of each group is told by the authors, based on reportage and expert analysis, from the outbreak of protests in Benghazi in February 2011 through to the transitional period following the end of fighting in October 2011. They describe the emergence of Libya's new politics through the unique stories of those who made it happen, or those who fought against it. The Libyan Revolution and its Aftermath brings together leading journalists, academics, and specialists, each with extensive field experience amidst the constituencies they depict, drawing on interviews with fighters, politicians and civil society leaders who have contributed their own account of events to this volume.Trade Review'By explaining the mosaic of Libya's various sub-national loyalties and identities and their origins, The Libyan Revolution and its Aftermath provides a useful antidote to day-to-day media coverage, which sometimes reduces Libyan political disputes to a binary struggle between Islamists and secularists, or East and West, or to tribal differences. It underlines the difficulty of forging a new political and economic framework that recognizes these differences but channels them into a pluralistic and tolerant vision.' * The Times Literary Supplement *'... a timely acknowledgment that Libya's chemistry is older than the laboratory Qaddafi fashioned. The book traces not only the colonel's demise, as many others have done, but the appearance of a lesser-known new cast. Written almost entirely by foreign experts, some of whom know the different factions intimately, it is the most detailed account I have read of the old forces shaping new Libya.' * Nicholas Pelham, New York Review of Books *'This is an important book that deserves a wide readership. With more than a dozen books published on the Libyan revolution, this is the first in which the contributors share extensive professional experience, a thorough knowledge of the literature, and recent fieldwork in Libya. The result is a detailed, nuanced account of the revolution and its aftermath.' * Ronald Bruce St John, author Libya: Continuity and Change and Libya: From Colony to Revolution *'The most complete picture we have yet had of the Libyan revolution and its aftermath ... a compelling and troubling read.' * Justin Marozzi, The National *'Libya's revolution was a complex story of multiple uprisings from geographically, ideologically and tribally distinct areas...Cole and McQuinn's contributors offer compelling narratives that portray the main actors and the rivalries within and between each of these camps.' * Survival journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIf not for the famous Indian mutiny-rebellion of 1857, the Santal 'Hul' (rebellion) of 1855 would today be remembered as the most serious uprising that the East India Company ever faced. Instead, this rebellion-to which 10 per cent of the Bengal Army's infantry was committed and in which at least 10,000 Santals died-has been forgotten. While its memory lived among Santals, British officers published little about it, and most of the sepoys involved died in 1857. In the words of one British officer, the Hul was 'not war ... but execution', and perhaps thus was dismissed as unworthy of attention by military historians. Drawing for the first time on the Bengal officers' voluminous reports on its suppression, Peter Stanley has produced the first comprehensive interpretation of the Hul, investigating why it occurred, how it was fought and why it ended as it did. Despite the Bengal Army virtually inventing counterinsurgency operations in the field (and the Santals improvising their first war), the Hul came to an end amid starvation and disease. But between its bloody outbreak, its protracted suppression and its far-reaching effects, Stanley demonstrates that the Hul was more than just 'execution'-it was indeed a war.Trade Review‘Hul! Hul! provides a unique insight into the oft-overlooked Santal rebellion of 1855… For the first time, the rebellion… has been explored largely through the military records of the East India Company and has thrown new light upon the nature of the tribal uprising.’ -- Frontline'A gripping account of an important episode in India’s colonial history seen from a nuanced military-social perspective. The Hul was overshadowed by the events of the great uprising of 1857 but has finally been resurrected by the chronicler that it deserves.' -- Rana Chhina MBE, Editor, United Service Institution of India (USI) Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research'That Santals stood to be shot every time their drums beat for a Santal is both poignant and chilling, as is this book—the most comprehensive, riveting retelling of the rebellion—a history that continues to inform and define the Santals.' -- Ruby Hembrom, founder and Director of adivaani, and author of Disaibon Hul'A thorough study of the 1855 Santal Rebellion which rocked the Bengal Presidency. Stanley portrays the origin, course and consequences of the Adivasi insurgency and British counterinsurgency based on the British military records. Incisive and thought-provoking.' -- Kaushik Roy, Guru Nanak Chair Professor, Jadavpur University, and Global Fellow, Peace Research Institute Oslo'Lucidly written, imaginatively structured, and richly documented. This fascinating account of the Santal rebellion, which lies at the unusual intersection of Adivasi history and military history, is a must-read for scholars of both these fields.' -- Sangeeta Dasgupta, Associate Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University'Anchored in painstaking research undertaken in archives across several continents, Hul! Hul! is a thoughtful, judiciously balanced and richly textured account of the origins, events and legacies of one of the largest yet hitherto overlooked uprisings against colonial rule in India. A compelling narrative from which students of military history, Indian history and imperial history will all stand to profit.' -- Douglas Peers, Professor of History, University of Waterloo

Read more less

Book SynopsisA short, brilliant and controversial new interpretation of arguably the most important revolution of all time: the event that made the rights of man and the demand for liberty, equality and fraternity central to modern politics. In this miraculously compressed, incisive book David Andress argues that it was the peasantry of France who made and defended the Revolution of 1789. That the peasant revolution benefitted far more people, in more far reaching ways, than the revolution of lawyerly elites and urban radicals that has dominated our view of the revolutionary period. History has paid more attention to Robespierre, Danton and Bonaparte than it has to the millions of French peasants who were the first to rise up in 1789, and the most ardent in defending changes in land ownership and political rights. 'Those furthest from the centre rarely get their fair share of the light', Andress writes, and the peasants were patronised, reviled and often persecuted by urban elites for not following their lead. Andress's book reveals a rural world of conscious, hard-working people and their struggles to defend their ways of life and improve the lives of their children and communities.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR DAVID ANDRESS: 'David Andress's important new book is a major contribution in our efforts to rethink the French Revolution' Timothy Tackett, on The Terror. 'Andress writes with verve, never allowing the pace to slacken, moving swiftly from one character or episode to another. The result is exhilarating' Tim Blanning, Sunday Telegraph, on 1789. 'To understand our current political situation, this excellent book is recommended as a handy primer' * Spectator, on Cultural Dementia *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 introduced new military technologies, transformed the organization of armies, and upset the continental balance of power, promulgating new regimented ideas of nationhood and conflict resolution more widely. However, the mass armies that became a new standard required mass mobilization and the arming of working people, who exercised a new power through both a German social democracy and popular insurgent French movements. As in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Paris Commune of 1871 grew directly from the discontent among radicalized soldiers and civilians pressed into armed service on behalf of institutions they learned to mistrust. If this militarized class conflict, the brutality of the Commune's subsequent repression not only butchered the tens of thousands of Parisians but slaughtered an old utopian faith that appeals to reason and morality could resolve social tensions. War among nations became linked to revolution and revolution to armed struggle.Trade ReviewMark Lause's investigation of the link between mass conscription, war and revolution is timely. Many of the classic revolutions and vast movements of social reforms on which the 21st century Left can base its reflection involve soldiers and ex-soldiers: the Paris Commune of course, but also the Russian, German and Chinese revolutions, the rise of social states around 1945 in Britain, France and even the US (around the GI Bill). Mark Lause is well placed to conduct this investigation with his specialization on the US Civil War, the first emergence of Left movements and labor in the mid-nineteenth century, and the lively interactions between the US and European, notably French, Left at the time of Lincoln, Marx and Clemenceau. * John Barzman *This is military history at its broadest and best. Lause captures events and technologies of destruction to be sure but also the regimented labor of war, the soldier's experience of larger worlds and new comrades, the coming to know of politics as a life and death matter, and the invitation to interrogate national ideals. These transformations set the stage for the for both the Paris Commune and the brutality of its repression. -- David Roediger teaches history at the University of Kansas. He is the author most recently of The Sinking Middle ClassMark Lause's investigation of the link between mass conscription, war and revolution is timely. Many of the classic revolutions and vast movements of social reforms on which the 21st century Left can base its reflection involve soldiers and ex-soldiers: the Paris Commune of course, but also the Russian, German and Chinese revolutions, the rise of social states around 1945 in Britain, France and even the US (around the GI Bill). Mark Lause is well placed to conduct this investigation with his specialization on the US Civil War, the first emergence of Left movements and labor in the mid-nineteenth century, and the lively interactions between the US and European, notably French, Left at the time of Lincoln, Marx and Clemenceau. -- John Barzman, Université Le Havre NormandieIn July 1870 France declared war on the confederation of German states headed by Prussia, only to be forced to capitulate six months later, after a series of traumatic and humiliating military defeats; in the meantime, the French Empire had collapsed and was been replaced by a Republic. This first modern European conflict has long suffered from a relative lack of interest among historians. In this respect, Mark Lause's Soldiers of the Revolution is a welcome addition to this field or research. Mark Lause's book is not just another well-researched and well written narrative of the Franco-Prussian War and its most immediate consequence, the Paris Commune (and other provincial uprisings). It brings into sharp focus the consequences of modern war and the emergence of more centralized nation-states that came to supersede the romantic vision of a universal republic that had been so popular in 1848 and the 'Spring of Peoples'. Because it is a thought-provoking examination of the relationship between war and revolution, it also develops an interestingly new approach on the Paris Commune, by showing that revolution offers an alternative when state power effectively begins to dissolve. Conversely, it also demonstrates that nation-building does not necessarily go hand in hand with a republican form of government. Lause convincingly argues that a new world emerged from the events of 1870-71, and that the Paris Commune contributed to the internationalization of the anticapitalist movement. His book deserves to be read carefully by all those who take an interest in the dynamics that have shaped the society we are presently living in. -- Michel Cordillot, Professor emeritus Université Paris 8, editor of La Commune de Paris 1871, les acteurs, l’événement, les lieux (Paris, 2021)

Read more less

Book SynopsisRed Flag Wounded brings together essays covering the controversies and debates over the fraught history of the Soviet Union from the revolution to its disintegration. Those monumental years were marked not only by violence, mass killing, and the brutal overturning of a peasant society but also by the modernisation and industrialisation of the largest country in the world, the victory over fascism, and the slow recovery of society after the nightmare of Stalinism.Ronald Grigor Suny is one of the most prominent experts on the revolution, the fate of the non-Russian peoples of the Soviet empire, and the twists and turns of Western historiography of the Soviet experience. As a biographer of Stalin and a long-time commentator on Russian and Soviet affairs, he brings novel insights to a history that has been misunderstood and deliberately distorted in the public sphere. For a fresh look at a story that affects our world today, this is the place to begin.Trade ReviewA towering figure in the field of Soviet history, Ronald Suny is a prolific and engaged scholar, who has opened up new fields of research -- notably of nationalism and empire -- and been himself open to new conceptual approaches, while remaining true to perspectives on the Russian Revolution and Stalinism that have stood the test of time. His work combines trenchant analysis with lucid and large-scale synthesis. -- S A Smith, author of Russia in RevolutionWith his lightly-worn erudition, good humour and mastery of the field, Ron Suny is the perfect guide to the big questions in Soviet history. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand Stalinism and its interpreters. -- Sheila Fitzpatrick

Read more less

Book SynopsisChina's resistance to Imperial Japan was the other great internationalist cause of the 'red 1930s', along with the Spanish Civil War. These desperate and bloody struggles were personified in the lives of Norman Bethune and others who volunteered in both conflicts. The story of Red Friends starts in the 1920s when, encouraged by the newly formed Communist International, Chinese nationalists and leftists united to fight warlords and foreign domination.John Sexton has unearthearthed the histories of foreigners who joined the Chinese revolution. He follows Comintern militants, journalists, spies, adventurers, Trotskyists, and mission kids whose involvement helped, and sometimes hindered, China's revolutionaries. Most were internationalists who, while strongly identifying with China's struggle, saw it as just one theatre in a world revolution. The present rulers in Beijing, however, buoyed by China's powerhouse economy, commemorate them as 'foreign friends' who aided China's 'peaceful rise' to great power status. Red Friends is part of Verso's growing China list, which includes China's Revolution in the Modern World and China in One Village. Founded on original research, it is a stirring story of idealists struggling against the odds to found a better future. The author's interviews with survivors and descendants add colour and humanity to lives both heroic and tragic.Trade ReviewA fascinating read, based on deep knowledge of the "red friends". People of all kinds and various nationalities, mostly Western, Sexton has an obvious sympathy with them, but also the ability to give the unvarnished truth where necessary. Sexton is sensitive, often witty and also innovative, uncovering hitherto unfamiliar material. Not only well written, but really excellent scholarship. -- Colin Mackerras, Professor Emeritus, Griffith University, AustraliaThis book is a comprehensive guide to an intricate history of the Chinese Communist movement seen through the eyes of foreign activists who contributed to its final victory. It is an enthralling collection of human stories well-written and captivating. Marked by abundant historical details and facts, yet elegantly designated for a general reader, it stands out as an extremely useful source of information for everyone who is interested in communist studies. It is an enchanting anthology of tales about foreign participants in the Chinese revolution - Russian, German, Dutch, American, Indian, New Zealand, British, Polish, and Japanese. Some of them are well-known, some others much less so. Some were staunch Stalinists, some others stubborn Trotskyists or Maoists, some were idealists, some others pure pragmatists. But all were inspired by a heroic struggle of the Chinese people for national and social liberation and were dedicated to the Chinese revolutionary course regardless of their political denominations. This book pays homage to every one of them shedding abundant light on their lives and fates. -- Alexander V. Pantsov, professor of history and holds the Edward and Mary Catherine Gerhold Chair in the Humanities at Capital University in Columbus, OhioRed Friends is a kind of book I've been waiting for a long time. The indispensable international dimension of the otherwise indigenous Chinese revolutions deserves an honest and fully explored history. In particular, the communist revolution in China was profoundly internationalist, in its self-consciousness and engagements as much as its regional and global magnetism. John Sexton most skilfully recounts important personal and collective experiences of 'red' foreign participants in China's protracted liberation struggle. These fascinating stories, involving far reaching and complex contextual narratives across national and partisan boundaries, are told in an elegant prose with great historical sensibility. At a perilous time of capitalist nationalism and imperialism, this book is a powerful and refreshing reminder of a lost world where revolutionary nationalism and internationalism were born twins. -- Lin Chun, Professor in Comparative Politics at the LSE, author of Revolution and Counterrevolution in China (2021).

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe French Revolution facilitated the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, but after gaining power he knew that his first task was to end it. In this book William Doyle describes how he did so, beginning with the three large issues that had destabilized revolutionary France: war, religion and monarchy. Doyle shows how, as First Consul of the Republic, Napoleon resolved these issues: first by winning the war, then by forging peace with the Church and finally by making himself a monarch. Napoleon at Peace ends by discussing Napoleon’s one great failure – his attempt to restore the colonial empire destroyed by war and slave rebellion. By the time this was abandoned, the fragile peace with Britain had broken down, and the Napoleonic wars had begun.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn exploration of the Totonac native community of Papantla, Veracruz, during the last half of the eighteenth century. Told through the lens of violent revolt, this is the first book-length study devoted to Papantla during the colonial era. The book tells the story of a native community confronting significant disruption of its agricultural tradition, and the violence that change provoked. Papantla's story is told in the form of an investigation into the political, social, and ethnic experience of an agrarian community. The Bourbon monopolisation of tobacco in 1764 disturbed a fragile balance, and pushed long-term native frustrations to the point of violence. Through the stories of four uprisings, Jake Frederick examines the Totonacs increasingly difficult economic environment, their view of justice, and their political tactics. Riot! argues that for the native community of Papantla, the nature of colonial rule was, even in the waning decades of the colonial era, a process of negotiation rather than subjugation. The second half of the eighteenth century saw an increase in collective violence across the Spanish American colonies as communities reacted to the strains imposed by the various Bourbon reforms. Riot! provides a much needed exploration of what the colony-wide policy reforms of Bourbon Spain meant on the ground in rural communities in New Spain. The narrative of each uprising draws the reader into the crisis as it unfolds, providing an entree into an analysis of the event. The focus on the community provides a new understanding of the demographics of this rural community, including an account of the as yet unexamined black population of Papantla.

Read more less

Book SynopsisRevolution Beyond the Event brings together leading anthropologists and emerging scholars to examine revolutionary legacies from the MENA region, Latin America and the Caribbean. Carefully selected case studies offer a critical perspective on lived realities, challenging the liberal humanist assumptions in the ''modern'' idea of revolution.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn illustrated account of one of the most pivotal events in modern history – the Russian revolution of 1917. In the early years of the twentieth century, Imperial Russia was an ethnically diverse empire, stretching from Ukraine and Belarus in the west to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East. At the head of this profoundly dysfunctional polity was Tsar Nicholas II, whose Romanov successors had ruled Russia since the start of the seventeenth century with a lethal mixture of domestic cruelty, expansionist energy and reactionary incompetence – interspersed with occasional reformist spasms. By early 1917, Russia was unreformable, and the tsar's authority irreparably damaged. In March of that year, Nicholas II abdicated and the tsarist system was overthrown. The provisional government installed in its stead to organise democratic elections lasted just eight chaotic months before being ousted by Lenin's Bolsheviks in the October Revolution. Writing with crisp immediacy, Sebestyen narrates an unprecedented era of political and social convulsion. The Russian Revolution changed the course of history, and, more than a century later, their backwash continues to be deeply felt across the world.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR VICTOR SEBESTYEN: 'Can first-rate history read like a thriller? With Lenin the Dictator the journalist Victor Sebestyen has pulled off this rarest of feats' New York Times. 'Sebestyen's attention to historical detail is flawless' Observer. 'Richly readable... Enthralling but appalling' Mail on Sunday. 'A magisterial but totally gripping and fresh account of the noble, violent, and doomed Hungarian revolution' Simon Sebag Montefiore. 'This is an exceptionally involving and horrifying book... Heaven knows [Sebestyen] can tell a story' * Spectator *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe story of a single family during the Irish Revolution, Four Killings is a book about political murder, and the powerful hunger for land and the savagery it can unleash. 'A vivid and chilling narrative... Confronts uncomfortable questions that still need answering' Roy Foster 'Marries acute storytelling skills with scholarship, fortified throughout by the author's wry sense of humour' Michael Heney 'Narrative history, told through a unique prism' Irish Sunday Independent 'Dungan knows his history; he also knows how to tell a story... A gem of a book' RTÉ Culture 'Sober and intelligent... Dungan does a fine job of showing that little people can make history too' Business Post Myles Dungan's family was involved in four violent deaths between 1915 and 1922. Jack Clinton, an immigrant small farmer from County Meath, was murdered in the remote and lawless Arizona territory by a powerful rancher's hired assassin; three more died in Ireland, and each death is compellingly reconstructed in this extraordinary book. What unites these deaths is the violence that engulfed Ireland during the war of independence, but also the passions unleashed by arguments over the ownership of the soil. In focusing on one family, Four Killings offers an original perspective on this still controversial period: a prism through which the moral and personal costs of violence, and the elemental conflict over land, come alive in surprising ways.Trade ReviewDungan knows his history; he also knows how to tell a story... A gem of a book' -- David McCullagh, RTÉ CultureA vivid and chilling narrative... Confronts uncomfortable questions that still need answering' -- Roy Foster, Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of OxfordSober and intelligent... Dungan does a fine job of showing that little people can make history too' -- Andrew Lynch, Business PostNarrative history, told through a unique prism * Irish Sunday Independent *Marries acute storytelling skills with scholarship, fortified throughout by the author's wry sense of humour -- Michael Heney, author of The Arms Crisis of 1970An engrossing account of the intimacies of political violence through the meticulous excavation of an Irish family's entanglements with struggles over land and nation across two continents -- Maurice Walsh, author of Bitter FreedomNot just a riveting story of the fortunes of an extended family, but an object lesson in the interrogation of changing versions of history over time -- Catriona Crowe, author of Dublin 1911The book is written in a lively and flowing style, and the selection of black and white family photos provides a fascinating peek into the lives of those whose stories are portrayed * Family Tree Magazine *The story, told skilfully and coherently, holds the attention throughout and draws attention to an often-neglected aspect of the independence struggle – land hunger. The killings are treated sensitively, as are the consequences for all concerned * Irish Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 Cundill History Prize Winner of the 2021 Frederick Douglass Prize 'A richly detailed account of a gripping human story' Washington Post '[An] epic history ... a sweeping, thoughtful narrative' Los Angeles Times On Sunday 27 February, 1763, thousands of slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice - in present-day Guyana - launched a massive rebellion which came amazingly close to succeeding. Surrounded by jungle and savannah, the revolutionaries and their enslavers struck and parried for an entire year. In the end, the Dutch prevailed because of one advantage: their access to soldiers and supplies. Blood on the River is the explosive story of this little-known revolution, one that almost changed the face of the Americas. Drawing on 900 interrogation transcripts collected by the Dutch when the Berbice rebellion finally collapsed, which were subsequently buried in Dutch archives, historian Marjoleine Kars reconstructs an extraordinarily rich day-by-day account of this pivotal event. Blood on the River provides a rare, in-depth look at the political vision of enslaved people at the dawn of the Age of Revolution. An astonishing original work of history, Blood on the River will change our understanding of revolutions, slavery and of the story of freedom in the New World.Trade ReviewA riveting addition to the history of the search for freedom in the Americas * Kirkus Reviews *A richly detailed account of a gripping human story -- H.W. Brands * Washington Post *[An] epic history ... A sweeping, thoughtful narrative, joining a new wave of books that make visible previously dismissed Black voices -- Carolyn Kellogg * Los Angeles Times *A gripping tale about the human need for freedom ... The story of the Berbice Rebellion begs to be told, and Kars' telling is impressive -- Martha Anne Toll * NPR Books *A model for how academic history can reach a wide audience, a narrative-driven work which presents pioneering archival scholarship in which we can hear the voices of the enslaved protagonists ... Kars represents the complexities of the rebellion without romanticising it -- Bethan Fisk * History Today *A powerful book that will appeal to experts and - thanks to the lively and accessible writing style - the general public alike * Black Perspectives *This striking study unearths a meaningful chapter in the history of slavery * Publishers Weekly *Meticulously researched and careful to prioritize the perspectives of the marginalized, Blood on the River offers a fascinating glimpse of the complex history of slavery in the Americas * Booklist *A must-read for anyone interested in slave revolts and the history of Atlantic slavery * Library Journal *[A] masterpiece ... Marjoleine Kars has unearthed a little-known rebellion in the Dutch colony of Berbice and rendered its story with insight, empathy, and wisdom. You'll find no easy platitudes herein. Instead, you'll find human beings in full relief, acting with courage, kindness, calculation, and mendacity in their quest for self-determination. Blood on the River is a story for the ages -- Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan PeopleTakes readers on a moving journey deep into a colonial heart of darkness. Drawing on rich and challenging sources, Marjoleine Kars reveals enslaved people making a rebellion that lingers in memory and landscape -- Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Internal Enemy and William Cooper's TownThis is required reading for historians of the Black Atlantic world -- Jennifer Morgan, professor of history at New York University and author of Reckoning with SlaveryOne of the great slave revolts in modern history has at last found a gifted historian to tell its epic tale. Using a breathtaking archival discovery to make the Berbice rebels vivid flesh-and-blood actors, Marjoleine Kars deeply enriches the global scholarship on the history of slavery and resistance -- Marcus Rediker, author of The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and FreedomVivid ... The aborted attempt at freedom she chronicles provides a harrowing counterpoint to the American and French revolutions that would soon follow -- Russell Shorto, author of The Island at the Center of the WorldMarjoleine Kars has brought from the archives the voices of the enslaved, both in hope and in defeat. A tale of importance for our time -- Natalie Zemon Davis, author of Trickster Travels and The Return of Martin Guerre

Read more less

Book SynopsisStirring the Pot of Haitian History is the first-ever translation of Ti dife boule sou istoua Ayiti (1977), the earliest book written by Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot. Challenging understandings of two centuries of Haitian history, Trouillot analyzes the pivotal role of formerly enslaved Haitian revolutionaries in the Revolution and War of Independence (1791–1804), a generation of people who became the founders of the modern Haitian state and advanced the vibrant culture that flourishes in Haiti. This book confronts Haiti’s political culture and the racial mythologizing of historical figures such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, Andre Rigaud, and Alexandre Petion. Trouillot examines the socio-economic and political contradictions and inequalities within the French colony of Saint-Domingue, traces the unraveling of the racist class system after 1790, and argues that Vodou and the Haitian Creole language provided the underlying cultural cohesion and resistance that led Haiti to independence.This groundbreaking book blends Marxist criticism with Haiti’s rich oral storytelling traditions to provide a playful yet incisive account of Haitian political thought that is rooted in the style and culture of Haitian Creole speakers. Proverbs, wordplay, and songs from popular culture and Vodou religion are interspersed with explorations of complex social and political realities and historical hypotheses; readers are thus drawn into a captivating oral performance.In a nation where the Haitian Creole majority language is still marginalized in government and education, Ti dife boule leaps out as a major contribution in the effort to expand Haitian Creole scholarship. Stirring the Pot of Haitian History holds a significant place in the expanding canon of Caribbean literature. The English translation of Trouillot’s first book—showing how historical problems continue to reverberate within the contemporary moment—provides readers with a one-of-a-kind Haitian perspective on Haitian revolutionary history and its legacies.This book received Honorable Mentions for both the Modern Languages Association's Lois Roth Award for a Translation of a Literary Work and the Latin American Studies Association's Isis Duarte Book Prize.Trade Review\‘Thanks to Past and Hebblethwaite, Stirring the Pot offers a fresh opportunity to understand Haitian history through the lens of one of the most brilliant theorists of our time.\’ Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Age of Revolutions‘Challenging settled knowledge about the modern Western world for a quarter-century, [Trouillot] had used philosophy, history, anthropology, and political economy to map new paths for understanding intimate connections between knowledge and power, always posting guardrails against false assumptions, simplistic reasoning, mythology masquerading as history, misinterpretation of facts, and flawed analysis spawning distorted conclusions or generalizations… co-translators Mariana Past and Benjamin Hebblethwaite help English readers begin to appreciate the letter, spirit, rhythm, playfulness, and goals of this multilayered text, as well as the complex Haitian culture-historical realities that prompted its writing.’ Drexel G. Woodson, New West Indian GuideTable of ContentsPreface by Lyonel Antoine TrouillotEnglish translation of preface by Mariana F. Past and Benjamin J. HebblethwaiteTranslators’ Note and AcknowledgementsStirring the Pot of Haitian History1. I’m holding a gathering2. A Kòd Noua [Black Code/Cord] to tie up little pigs3. Keep reading and you’ll understand4. Fire in the house5. Open the gate6. The little orange tree grew7. Cousin, that’s not what you told me8. Bibliography of original (1977) text9. Afterword by Jean Jonassaint10. Bibliography for English Translation, Translators’ Note, and Afterword 11. Appendix‘ki mò ki toué lanpérè’ (‘What spirit of the dead killed the emperor’)by L. Raymond, pseudonym of M-R. Trouillot (Lakansièl 3, 1975, pp. 37-39)‘lindépandans dévan-dèyè: dapiyanp sou révolision’ (‘Upside-down independence: raiding revolution’)by L. Raymond (Lakansièl, Spécial nouvelle année, 1976 (Haiti Art Inc.), pp. 46-50)

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new edition of ''Hands Off Wales'' addresses the campaign of militant activism which Wales witnessed between 1963 and 1969, showing that it was fuelled by both the contentious flooding of Cwm Tryweryn and the failure of Plaid Cymru to prevent the valley''s drowning via constitutional means.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a city on the brink of violence just after the First World War, can one boy make his way through the night and save his father?

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe recently-discovered letters of the wealthy counter-revolutionary aristocrat, Innocente-Catherine de Rougé, dowager duchess d’Elbeuf (1707-94), offer a vivid and exciting new eye-witness perspective on the French Revolution and the Terror. Hostile witness to everything about the Revolution, from the noble revolt, the storming of the Bastille and the peasant revolution in 1788-91, through to the outbreak of war, the overthrow and trial of Louis XVI and the Terror in 1791-4, the duchess’s letters to an unknown friend offer an unparalleled real-time narrative by an aristocratic woman struggling to understand radical change. Though tempted by emigration to the Low Countries, the duchess was unusual among her contemporary fellow-aristocrats in remaining in France down to her death in 1794, based in her two homes in Picardy and at the heart of Paris. As well as providing a detailed account of all she saw and read, the correspondence also portrays the anguished mental and spiritual odyssey of a highly devout octogenarian woman, who persisted inplangently declaring her outspokenly counter-revolutionary views even as she approached her own death in conditions of great personal danger. The letters constitute a remarkable example of female life-writing at the heart of the Age of Revolutions from a unique perspective.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Duchesse d’Elbeuf before 1789 The Duchesse d’Elbeuf’s Revolution The hôtel d’Elbeuf and the Paris political world Paris and Moreuil, 1788-91 Flirting with emigration, 1791-92 Paris under terror The end of the line The Text: form, style and genre Note on the text LETTERS AND NOTES SECTION 1: 1788–89 Summary Letter 1. Paris, Saturday, 13 December 1788 Letter 2. Paris, Thursday, 22 January 1789 Letter 3. Paris, Tuesday, 10 February 1789 Letter 4. Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 1789 Letter 5. Paris, Thursday, 31 April 1789 Letter 6. Paris, Saturday, 9 May 1789 Letter 7. Paris, Friday, 22 May 1789 Letter 8. Paris, Monday, 15 June 1789 Letter 9. Paris, Wednesday, 24 June 1789 Letter 10. Paris, Thursday, 1 July 1789 Letter 11. Paris, Thursday, 16 July 1789 Letter 12. Paris, Wednesday, 22 July 1789 Letter 13. Moreuil, Saturday, 8 August 1789 Letter 14. Moreuil, Thursday, 10 September 1789 Letter 15. Moreuil, Wednesday, 14 October 1789 Letter 16. Moreuil, Saturday, 17 October 1789 Letter 17. Moreuil, Wednesday, 18 November 1789 Letter 18. Moreuil, Tuesday, 22 December 1789 SECTION 2: 1790 Summary Letter 19. Moreuil, Monday, 1 February 1790 Letter 20. Paris, Saturday, 10 March 1790 Letter 21. Moreuil, Thursday, 15 April 1790 Letter 22. Moreuil, Friday, 28 May 1790 NOTES 4–19 June 1790 Letter 23. Moreuil, Friday, 21 June 1790 NOTES 28 June–4 July 1790 Letter 24. Moreuil, Monday, 5 July 1790 NOTES 8–28 July 1790 Letter 25. Moreuil, Saturday, 31 July 1790 NOTES 4–28 August 1790 DELETED NOTES 3–9 September 1790 Letter 26. Moreuil, Monday, 30 August 1790 NOTES 31 August–28 December 1790 Letter 27. Moreuil, Wednesday, 29 December 1790 SECTION 3: 1791 Summary NOTES 2 January–7 February 1791 Letter 28. Saturday, Moreuil, 12 February 1791 NOTES 15 February–19 March 1791 Letter 29. Paris, Saturday, 19 March 1791 NOTES 23 March–27 April 1791 Letter 30. Paris, Friday, 29 April 1791 NOTES 1–16 May 1791 Letter 31. Paris, Monday, 16 May 1791 NOTES 21 May–30 June 1791 Letter 32. Paris, Thursday, 30 June 1791 NOTES 3–27 July 1791 Letter 33. Paris, Friday, 29 July 1791 NOTES 1–25 August 1791 Letter 34. Paris, Saturday, 27 August 1791 NOTES 29 August–3 September 1791 Letter 35. Paris, Monday, 5 September 1791 NOTES 8–14 September 1791 Letter 36. Tournai, Monday, 3 October 1791 Letter 37. Tournai, Monday, 7 November 1791 Letter 38. Tournai, Thursday, 25 December 1791 SECTION 4: 1792 Summary Letter 39. Tournai, Saturday, 7 January 1792 Letter 40. Tournai, Wednesday, 31 January 1792 Letter 41. Tournai, Wednesday, 29 February 1792 NOTES March 1792 Letter 42. Paris, Thursday, 22 March 1792 NOTES 8 April 1792 Letter 43. Paris, Monday, 9 April 1792 NOTES 11–26 April 1792 Letter 44. Paris, Monday, 16 April 1792 NOTES 17–28 April 1792 Letter 45. Paris, Tuesday, 24 April 1792 NOTES 25 April–25 May 1792 Letter 46. Paris, Thursday, 25 May 1792 NOTES 28–30 May 1792 Letter 47. Paris, Thursday, 31 May 1792 NOTES 31 May–16 June 1792 Letter 48. Paris, Saturday, 16 June 1792 NOTES 18 June–7 July 1792 Letter 49. Paris, Monday, 9 July 1792 NOTES 10–20 July 1792 Letter 50. Paris, Wednesday, 18 July 1792 NOTES 16–28 July 1792 Letter 51. Paris, Wednesday, 25 July 1792 NOTES 25 July–13 August 1792 Letter 52. Paris, Tuesday, 14 August 1792 NOTES 15–23 August 1792 Letter 53. Paris, Friday, 24 August 1792 NOTES 24 August–3 September 1792 Letter 54. Paris, Tuesday, 4 September 1792 NOTES 4–21 September 1792 Letter 55. Paris, Saturday, 22 September 1792 NOTES 25 September–13 October Letter 56. Paris, Saturday, 15 October 1792 NOTES 16 October–20 November 1792 Letter 57. Paris, Thursday, 22 November 1792 NOTES 23 November–13 December 1792 Letter 58. Paris, Saturday, 15 December 1792 NOTES 16–26 December 1792 Section 5: 1793–94 Summary NOTES 4–21 January 1793 Letter 59. Paris, Tuesday, 22 January 1793 NOTES 24 January–1 March 1793 Letter 60. Paris, Friday, 1 March 1793 NOTES 3–29 March 1793 Letter 61. Paris, Friday, 29 March 1793 NOTES 1–9 April 1793 Letter 62. Paris, Wednesday, 10 April 1793 NOTES 12 April–13 May 1793 Letter 63. Paris, Tuesday, 14 May 1793 NOTES 16 May–5 June 1793 Letter 64. Paris, Wednesday, 5 June 1793 NOTES 10 June–6 July 1793 Letter 65. Paris, Wednesday, 10 July 1793 NOTES 13–31 July 1793 Letter 66. Paris, Friday, 31 July 1793 NOTES 1 August–20 September 1793 Letter 67. Paris, Friday, 20 September 1793 NOTES 24 September–20 October 1793 Letter 68. Paris, Monday, 22 October 1793 NOTES 31 October–5 November 1793 Letter 69. Paris, Wednesday, 6 November 1793 NOTES 7 November 1793–8 January 1794 APPENDIX: Other d’Elbeuf letters, 1793-4 1.To Jules-François Paré, minister of the Interior, 11 October 1793 2.To Georgette de Rougé du Plessis-Bellière, 26 October 1793. 3.To Paré, minister of the Interior, 11 December 1793. 4.To an unknown individual, early 1794. 5.To Rosalie de Rougé, 14 February 1794. List of Persons Mentioned Sources and Bibliography Acknowledgements Illustrations and Maps Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Golden Horde is a definitive work on the Italian revolutionary movements of the 1960s and ’70s. An anthology of texts and fragments woven together with an original commentary, The Golden Horde widens our understanding of the full complexity and richness of radical thought and practice in Italy during the 1960s and ’70s. The book covers the generational turbulence of Italy’s postwar period, the transformations of Italian capitalism, the new analyses by worker-focused intellectuals, the student movement of 1968, the Hot Autumn of 1969, the extra-parliamentary groups of the early 1970s, the Red Brigades, the formation of a radical women’s movement, the development of Autonomia, and the build-up to the watershed moment of the spontaneous political movement of 1977. Far from being merely a handbook of political history, The Golden Horde also sheds light on two decades of Italian culture, including the newspapers, songs, journals, festivals, comics, and philosophy that these movements produced. The book features writings by Sergio Bologna, Umberto Eco, Elvio Fachinelli, Lea Melandri, Danilo Montaldi, Toni Negri, Raniero Panzieri, Franco Piperno, Rossana Rossanda, Paolo Virno, and others, as well as an in-depth introduction by translator Richard Braude outlining the work’s composition and development. Trade Review"This classic book, now translated into English, uses eyewitness accounts from those decades to trace uprisings of workers and students in Italy, a country where the extreme left was particularly strong...This sprawling book vividly portrays the chaos, confusion, and contradictions of those years." * Foreign Affairs *"The Golden Horde figures as an anthology and rather than being a straight ‘political’ or ‘workerist’ recounting the two authors include much information and assessment of the counter-cultural movements in Italy as well as the widespread factory struggles that mark the period . . . Moroni and Balestrini offer up this book as both a tool mémoire and as a way of charting 'the epoch defining passage from one phase of capitalism to another.'" * Penniless Press Magazine *Table of ContentsTranslator?’s Introduction (2020)Preface to the Second Edition (1997) by Primo Moroni Editor’s Note (1997) by Sergio BianchiPreface to the First Edition (1988) by Primo Moroni and Nanni Balestrini1. In the Beginning There Were the Cities, the Youth, the Workers2. The 1960s: The Generation of Existential Revolt3. The Birth of the Mass Worker and the Break-Up of the Communist Movement24. From the Classroom to Anti-Authoritarianism5. The Explosion of ’686. 1969: The Hot Autumn7. The Extra-Parliamentary Groups8.. Armed Struggle and Workers’ Autonomy9.. The Revolution in Feminism10. The Movement of ’7711. Communication, Culture, Intellectuals12. Forward! How? And Where To?AppendixDiehards of the State by Rossana RossandaBibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom regicides to revolutionaries; from fascists to anarchists; from Tom Paine to Tom Wintringham, this book is a history of noble ideals and crushing failures in which Clive Bloom takes us on a journey through British history, exploring our often rocky relationship with the ruling elite. A History of Britian's Fight for a Republic reveals our surprising legacy of terrorism and revolution, reminding us that Britain has witnessed centuries of revolt. This is a history encompassing three bloody civil wars in Ireland, the bombing campaigns by the IRA, two Welsh uprisings, one Lowland Scottish civil war, uprisings in Derbyshire and Kent, five attempts to assassinate the entire cabinet and seize London, and numerous attempts to murder the royal family.This new and revised edition takes the story of modern monarchy back to its origins in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and forward to the reign of Charles III and includes the story of the continuing struggle for democratic rights and republican values from medieval times up to the present struggle for Scottish and Welsh independence.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis vivid selection, compiled and introduced by Tamara Deutscher, written by Lenin and those who knew him, brings us the revolution in his everyday life - the man who lived by politics but not by politics alone.Here, we see the Lenin of leisure as well as work, geared to his life's purpose and yet enjoying to the full all the pleasures of a healthy human existence - neither the humourless, monolithic cult hero of Soviet mythology nor the bogeyman of official anti-communism. What did Lenin read? How did he relax? What did he think and feel? This surprising collection, covering everything from his passionate baritone singing voice to his love of hunting wild game and beyond, reveals the man beyond the myth.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen he died suddenly in 1967, Isaac Deutscher had completed only the compelling first chapter of a long-anticipated biography of Lenin, published here. It covers Lenin's family background, birth and early years in the backwater town of Simbirsk up to the execution of his brother, a traumatic formative event. Drawing on a lifetime of background research, including access to the closed section of Trotsky's archives, Lenin's Childhood gives a novel interpretation of the earliest influences on Lenin's personality and thinking. Most of all, it is a glimpse into an unfinished work which would have striven to save Lenin from fanatical anti-revolutionary condemnation and, perhaps more important, from uncritical communist beatification.This anniversary edition includes an introduction by Deutscher's biographer, Gonzalo Pozo, which situates the Lenin project within Deutscher's oeuvre and discusses the sources, influences and evolution of his never completed life of Lenin.Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Anniversary Edition - Gonzalo PozoIntroduction - Tamara DeutscherLenin's Childhood

Read more less

Book SynopsisLenin's booklet The State and Revolution struck the world of Marxist theory like a lightning bolt. Written in the months running up to the October Revolution of 1917, Lenin turned the traditional socialist concept of the state on its head, arguing for the need to smash the organs of the bourgeois state to create a 'semi-state' of soviets, or workers' councils, in which ordinary people would take on the functions of the state machine in a new and radically democratic manner. This new edition includes a substantial introduction by renowned theorist Antonio Negri, who argues for the continued relevance of these ideas.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Antonio NegriPreface to First EditionPreface to Second Edition1: Class Society and the State The State: A Product of the Irreconcilability of Class AntagonismsSpecial Bodies of Armed Men, Prisons, etc.The State: An Instrument for the Exploitationof the Oppressed ClassThe 'Withering Away' of the State,and Violent Revolution2: The Experience of 1848-51The Eve of RevolutionThe Revolution Summed UpThe Presentation of the Question by Marx in 18523: Experience of the Paris Commune of 1871. Marx's AnalysisWhat Made the Communards' Attempt Heroic?What Is To Replace the Smashed State Machine?Abolition of ParliamentarismOrganization of National UnityAbolition of the Parasite State4: Supplementary Explanations by EngelsThe Housing QuestionControversy with the AnarchistsLetter to BebelCriticism of the Draft of the Erfurt ProgrammeThe 1891 Preface to Marx's The Civil War in FranceEngels on the Overcoming of Democracy5: The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the StatePresentation of the Question by MarxThe Transition from Capitalism to CommunismThe First Phase of Communist SocietyThe Higher Phase of Communist Society6: The Vulgarization of Marxism by OpportunistsPlekhanov's Controversy with the AnarchistsKautsky's Controversy with the OpportunistsKautsky's Controversy with PannekoekPostscript

Read more less

Book SynopsisCommissioned by Oliver Stone in 2015 to commemorate the Russian Revolution, Tariq Ali's captivating screenplay of the life and times of Vladimir Lenin puts flesh on the bones of the historical record and gets its pulse racing. From the author of The Dilemmas of Lenin, the drama captures the enigma of its central character. Ali shows Lenin in his rush from Switzerland to Petrograd by train to grasp his moment in history and the force of his personality on the tumult he found there. He made a revolution and remade a nation. Interwoven with the politics is an exploration of Lenin's personal life, especially his love for Inessa Armand.In the introduction, Ali argues that, despite the difficulties, a serious cinematic assessment of Lenin is still needed. Unfortunately, two very different attempts to film one failed. This first draft provides the basis for something on a grander scale at some stage in the future. Praise for The Dilemmas of Lenin 'Aims to rescue Lenin from both liberal caricature and Soviet hag- iography by recovering the realism and dynamism of his political thought' David Sessions, Nation'An incredibly powerful, panoramic, and insightful study of the central revolutionary figure of the twentieth century' Paul LeBlanc, author of Lenin and the Revolutionary Party Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Lenin ScenarioChronology of Lenin's Life and WorksGlossary of Names

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy do we think of social struggles as movements? Have struggles been practiced otherwise, not as motion but as interruption, occupation, disturbance, arrest? Looking at three hundred years of Atlantic social struggle kinetically, Mehmet Dösemeci questions the axiomatic association that academics and activists have made between modern social struggles and the category of movement. Dösemeci argues that this movement politics has privileged some forms of historical struggle while obscuring others and, perhaps more damningly, reveals the complicity of social movements in the very forces they oppose.Dösemeci’s story begins with the eighteenth-century establishment of a transatlantic regime of movement that coerced goods and bodies into violent and ceaseless motion. He then details the long history of resistance to this regime, interweaving disparate social struggles such as food riots, Caribbean maroon communities, Atlantic pirates, secret societies and syndica

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century, attracting tens of thousands of Indigenous and non-Native allies from around the world. Its slogan "Mni Wiconi"-Water is Life-was about more than just a pipeline. Water Protectors knew this battle for Native sovereignty had already been fought many times before, and that, even after the encampment was gone, their anti-colonial struggle would continue. In Our History is the Future, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance leading to the #NoDAPL movement from the days of the Missouri River trading forts through the Indian Wars, the Pick-Sloan dams, the American Indian Movement, and the campaign for Indigenous rights at the United Nations. While a historian by trade, Estes also draws on observations from the encampments and from growing up as a citizen of the Oceti Sakowin (the Nation of the Seven Council Fires), making Our History is the Future at once a work of history, a personal story, and a manifesto.Trade ReviewA touching and necessary manifesto and history featuring firsthand accounts of the recent Indigenous uprising against powerful oil companies...With an urgent voice, Estes reminds us that the greed of private corporations must never be allowed to endanger the health of the majority. An important read about Indigenous protesters fighting to protect their ancestral land and uphold their historic values of clean land and water for all humans. * Kirkus Reviews *A powerful blend of personal and historical narrative. A major contribution. -- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes EverythingEmbedded in the centuries-long struggle for Indigenous liberation resides our best hope for a safe and just future for everyone on this planet. Few events embody that truth as clearly as the resistance at Standing Rock, and the many deep currents that converged there. In this powerful blend of personal and historical narrative, Nick Estes skillfully weaves together transformative stories of resistance from these front lines, never losing sight of their enormous stakes. A major contribution. -- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes EverythingReading Our History is the Future is like standing in the middle of camp again. During the Standing Rock uprising, we witnessed what our ancestors always prayed for-making their dreams a reality. -- Bobbi Jean Three Legs, leader of the Standing Rock Youth RunnersIn Our History is the Future historian Nick Estes tells a spellbinding story of the 10 month Indigenous resistance at Standing Rock in 2016, animating the lives and characters of the leaders and organizers, emphasizing the powerful leadership of the women. Alone this would be a brilliant analysis of one of the most significant social movements of this century. But embedded in the story and inseparable from it is the centuries long history of the Oceti Sakowin' resistance to United States' genocidal wars and colonial institutions. And woven into these entwined stories of Indigenous resistance is the true history of the United States as a colonialist state and a global history of European colonialism. This book is a jewel-history and analysis that reads like the best poetry-certain to be a classic work as well as a study guide for continued and accelerated resistance. -- Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United StatesWhen state violence against peaceful protest at Standing Rock became part of the national consciousness, many noticed Native people for the first time -- again. Our History is necessary reading, documenting how Native resistance is met with settler erasure: an outcome shaped by land, resources, and the juggernaut of capitalism. Estes has written a powerful history of Seven Fires resolve that demonstrates how Standing Rock is the outcome of history and the beginning of the future. -- Louise Erdrich, author of the National Book Award winner The Round HouseA touching and necessary manifesto and history featuring firsthand accounts of the recent Indigenous uprising against powerful oil companies...With an urgent voice, Estes reminds us that the greed of private corporations must never be allowed to endanger the health of the majority. An important read about Indigenous protesters fighting to protect their ancestral land and uphold their historic values of clean land and water for all humans. * Kirkus Reviews *Our History is the Future offers a first draft of history that will serve as the last word for years to come. Combining the literary skill of the poet, the rich contextual knowledge of the historian, and the sharp edge of experience, Nick Estes has crafted a powerful account of the Standing Rock resistance, situating it in a struggle lodged deep in time and across the full reach of global solidarities. -- Philip J. Deloria, author of Playing IndianOur History is the Future brings the history of Native American anti-imperialism to the center of the study of racial capitalism while renewing the focus on political economy in Indigenous Studies; it brings the experience of the camp at Standing Rock to the study of history, and deep learning to the ongoing fight for sovereignty; it is a book by a young scholar that draws brilliantly on the wisdom of centuries of struggle. In short: you should read it. -- Walter Johnson, author of River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton KingdomOur History is the Future is a game-changer. In addition to providing a thorough and cogent history of the long tradition of Indigenous resistance, it is also a personal memoir and homage to the Oceti Sakowin; an entreaty to all their relations that demands the "emancipation of the earth." Estes continues in the legacy of his ancestors, from Black Elk to Vine Deloria, he turns Indigenous history right-side up as a story of self-defense against settler invasion. In so doing, he is careful and judicious in his telling, working seamlessly across eras, movements, and scholarly literatures, to forge a collective vision for liberation that takes prophecy and revolutionary theory seriously. The book will be an instant classic and go-to text for students and educators working to understand the "structure" undergirding the "event" of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This is what history as Ghost Dance looks like. -- Sandy Grande, author of Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political ThoughtThis extraordinary history of resistance counters the myth of Indigenous disappearance and insignificance while calling into question the very notion that resistance itself is impossible in a world saturated by capital and atrophying inequality. This is a radical Indigenous history in its finest form -- that connects individual lives to global scales of political articulation while remaining attentive to intellectual formation and coalitional politics from the 19th Century to the present. Estes draws from multiple archives and intellectual traditions and seeks to not only connect past to present but also to transform futures and possibilities for justice. -- Audra Simpson, Mohawk Interrupts: Political Life Across the Borders of the Settler StatesNick Estes is a forceful writer whose work reflects the defiant spirit of the #NoDAPL movement. Our History is the Future braids together strands of history, theory, manifesto and memoir into a unique and compelling whole that will provoke activists, scholars and readers alike to think deeper, consider broader possibilities and mobilize for action on stolen land. -- Julian Brave Noisecat, 350.orgFearless and inspiring, Nick Estes delivers a powerful rebuke of Euro-American Manifest Destiny with an Indigenous perspective that is inclusive and ideological precise. This book correctly, if not necessarily, focuses its energy on the natural evolutionary and revolutionary pathway of Oceti Sakowin resistance. Respectful, brilliant, and insightful, This book should be considered a key ingredient to achieve the universal Native construct of balance-something we must all have to ensure our continued existence. -- Marcella Gilbert, Lakota Water Protector, Warrior Women Film ProjectOur History is the Future establishes Nick Estes as one of the leading scholars of our time. This dynamic book offers a careful, deeply researched, and even-handed account of the events at Standing Rock, placing them in a long continuum of Oceti Sakowin resistance. This is a war story that links the #NoDAPL movement in the present to anti-colonial and anti-capitalist struggles in the past to demonstrate the possibilities of liberated futures. -- Jordan T. Camp, author of Incarcerating the Crisis: Freedom Struggles and the Rise of the Neoliberal StateIt is customary to hail a bold young author as the voice of their generation. In Our History is the Future, Nick Estes gives voice to many generations, those who've come before and those still to come. The book slips through time, evoking the scent of campfire that once indicted Indigenous people in the 19th century, a smoke that still lingers on 21st century Water Protectors and marks them as enemies of the state. This utterly astonishing book imparts the long history of Indigenous people, their relatives, and their struggle for liberation against capitalist North America's settler colonial violence. The long memory of the people, Estes shows, cannot be clipped by the oblivion of empire. The people do not forget. -- Christina Heatherton, co-editor of Policing the Planet: How the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives MatterA mindful and dynamic text. Nick Estes' narrative power gives dynamism and detailed realism to some of the most formative movements of our time. The book is expansive in its isolation and focus. The book embodies resistance and shows the true effort it takes to maintain it. -- Terese Mailhot, author of HeartberriesWith scrupulous research and urgent prose, [Nick Estes] declares the DAPL protest a flowering of indigenous resistance with roots deep in history and Native sacred land...A powerful work, Estes's condemnation of the United States government is clear and resonant. * Publishers Weekly *This book is a mustread for anyone interested in the #NoDAPL movement. It works as an introduction - and a fearless analysis of - one of the biggest social movements of our times. -- Fiorella Lecoutteux * Peace News *Activist, scholar, and Lower Brule Sioux citizen Estes challenges the power systems that have attacked and disenfranchised Indigenous peoples for centuries with both the story of northern Plains peoples as well as a political philosophy of Indigenous empowerment. The author provides context for contemporary struggles against the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines. * Library Journal *Our History Is The Future traces not just an Indigenous politics of opposition, but a vibrant and omnipresent theory of decolonisation that strives to create and preserve as well as resist...Perhaps the most powerful argument of the book is the conceptualisation of Indigenous resistance as an omnipresent process that runs throughout the course of American history. -- Shelley Angelie Saggar * Hong Kong Review of Books *Nick Estes gives voice to the new wave of indigenous environmental mobilisation. -- Neha Shah * Guardian *Our History Is the Future should be on the reading lists of historians, social scientists, and members of the public interested in grasping the interconnections and continuity among the many efforts of Indigenous resistance to settler colonialism and corporate encroachments onto their lands, waters, and natural resources. -- Simone Poliandri * American Indian Culture and Research Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first English edition of legendary journalist Wilfred Burchett's eye-witness reporting on the bloodless Portuguese military coup and Carnation Revolution (1974-1975).

Read more less

Book SynopsisStirring the Pot of Haitian History is the first-ever translation of Ti dife boule sou istoua Ayiti (1977), the earliest book written by Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot. Challenging understandings of two centuries of Haitian history, Trouillot analyzes the pivotal role of formerly enslaved Haitian revolutionaries in the Revolution and War of Independence (1791–1804), a generation of people who became the founders of the modern Haitian state and advanced the vibrant culture that flourishes in Haiti. This book confronts Haiti’s political culture and the racial mythologizing of historical figures such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, Andre Rigaud, and Alexandre Petion. Trouillot examines the socio-economic and political contradictions and inequalities within the French colony of Saint-Domingue, traces the unraveling of the racist class system after 1790, and argues that Vodou and the Haitian Creole language provided the underlying cultural cohesion and resistance that led Haiti to independence.This groundbreaking book blends Marxist criticism with Haiti’s rich oral storytelling traditions to provide a playful yet incisive account of Haitian political thought that is rooted in the style and culture of Haitian Creole speakers. Proverbs, wordplay, and songs from popular culture and Vodou religion are interspersed with explorations of complex social and political realities and historical hypotheses; readers are thus drawn into a captivating oral performance.In a nation where the Haitian Creole majority language is still marginalized in government and education, Ti dife boule leaps out as a major contribution in the effort to expand Haitian Creole scholarship. Stirring the Pot of Haitian History holds a significant place in the expanding canon of Caribbean literature. The English translation of Trouillot’s first book—showing how historical problems continue to reverberate within the contemporary moment—provides readers with a one-of-a-kind Haitian perspective on Haitian revolutionary history and its legacies.This book received Honorable Mentions for both the Modern Languages Association's Lois Roth Award for a Translation of a Literary Work and the Latin American Studies Association's Isis Duarte Book Prize.Trade Review\‘Thanks to Past and Hebblethwaite, Stirring the Pot offers a fresh opportunity to understand Haitian history through the lens of one of the most brilliant theorists of our time.\’ Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Age of Revolutions‘Challenging settled knowledge about the modern Western world for a quarter-century, [Trouillot] had used philosophy, history, anthropology, and political economy to map new paths for understanding intimate connections between knowledge and power, always posting guardrails against false assumptions, simplistic reasoning, mythology masquerading as history, misinterpretation of facts, and flawed analysis spawning distorted conclusions or generalizations… co-translators Mariana Past and Benjamin Hebblethwaite help English readers begin to appreciate the letter, spirit, rhythm, playfulness, and goals of this multilayered text, as well as the complex Haitian culture-historical realities that prompted its writing.’ Drexel G. Woodson, New West Indian GuideTable of ContentsPreface by Lyonel Antoine TrouillotEnglish translation of preface by Mariana F. Past and Benjamin J. HebblethwaiteTranslators’ Note and AcknowledgementsStirring the Pot of Haitian History1. I’m holding a gathering2. A Kòd Noua [Black Code/Cord] to tie up little pigs3. Keep reading and you’ll understand4. Fire in the house5. Open the gate6. The little orange tree grew7. Cousin, that’s not what you told me8. Bibliography of original (1977) text9. Afterword by Jean Jonassaint10. Bibliography for English Translation, Translators’ Note, and Afterword 11. Appendix‘ki mò ki toué lanpérè’ (‘What spirit of the dead killed the emperor’)by L. Raymond, pseudonym of M-R. Trouillot (Lakansièl 3, 1975, pp. 37-39)‘lindépandans dévan-dèyè: dapiyanp sou révolision’ (‘Upside-down independence: raiding revolution’)by L. Raymond (Lakansièl, Spécial nouvelle année, 1976 (Haiti Art Inc.), pp. 46-50)

Read more less

Book SynopsisEssays exploring the dynamics of rebellion across Europe - from Sweden and Slovakia to the Iberian Peninsula and Hungary - over five centuries.Rebellion was a fundamental part of the political ecosystem of the Middle Ages. Medieval Europe witnessed numerous instances of noble rebellion, popular protest and communal resistance against political authority. However, most scholarship has focused on the causes and/or life cycle of the most famous individual movements, such as the Barons' War in England, the Hussites in Bohemia and the Burgundian-Armagnac conflict in France, and there has been relatively little comparative analysis of political protest across both time and "national" borders. Where it exists, it tends to favour a thematic approach and be narrowly focused in terms of geographical coverage. Conversely, this book breaks new ground in its wide geographical and chronological range, from twelfth-century Sicily to late fifteenth-century Ireland, exploring the various forms that active resistance could take. Its essays offer fresh perspectives on rebellion: as a political act, its theoretical justifications, the role of language and propaganda, the royal counter-responses that it provoked, and its ramifications, both personal and communal. Together they shine a new light on the complex interrelationship between legal authority, violence and politics, and significantly enhance our understanding of rebellion during this period.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe thrilling history of Parliament's 'fiery spirits,' whose actions lead to the trial and execution of the king and the declaration of an English republic

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt was the 1917 Russian Revolution that transformed the scale of the Communist Manifesto, making it the key text for socialists everywhere. On the centenary of this upheaval, this volume pairs Marx and Engels's most famous work with Lenin's own revolutionary manifesto, "The April Theses," which lifts politics from the level of everyday banalities to become an art-form.The Communist Manifesto"Oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes."The Communist Manifesto is the most influential political text ever written-few other calls to action have stirred and changed the world. Now, in the wake of a punishing financial crisis, in a world built on regimes of permanent austerity, each rife with horrific disparities in wealth, this short book remains a reference point for those trying to understand the transformations being wrought by capitalism and its concomitant forms of exploitation.This centenary edition includes a new introduction by Tariq Ali, contextualizing the period-the eve of the 1848 revolutions-in which Marx and Engels penned their masterpiece and argues that it desperately needs a successor."The April Theses""The chain breaks first at its weakest link."In Lenin's "April Theses," written in 1917, he presented his ten analytical maxims, outlining a programme to accelerate and complete the revolution that had begun in February of that year. Now, on the revolution's centenary, Verso presents them here alongside Lenin's 'Letters from Afar', written in exile that March and addressed to his comrades in Petrograd. In these missives, he offers advice and instruction to comrades pushing ahead with their ideals in the aftermath of the February revolution.The introduction by Tariq Ali traces The Communist Manifesto's influence on Lenin's "April Theses," the text that brought the manifesto to life and made it one of the most widely read books in history. For Lenin, writes Ali, it was the birth of imperialism, the legitimate offspring of capitalism, that signalled the end of the latter's "progressive capacities."Trade ReviewIt is still one of the most influential political documents ever written. * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the disastrous Pompidou years, working-class Paris has been steadily nibbled away, either by destruction or more insidiously by a kind of internal colonization. Take for example a small outlying district populated by Arabs, blacks and poor whites twenty years ago, the L'Olive neighbourhood north of La Chapelle The area is noted as pleasant, people frequent it and explore it, and as the rents are low some settle there. Others follow, first friends and then anyone else. Rents go up, buildings are renovated, bars open, then an organic food shop, a vegan restaurant...The earlier indigenous inhabitants are driven out by the rising rents and settle further away, in Saint-Denis if they are lucky, or else in Garges-lès-Gonesse, Goussainville or God knows where.But new neighbourhoods are emerging, for example the Chinese quarter of Bas Belleville, which has grown since the 1970s to the point that in some streets, such as Rue Civiale or Rue Rampal, the restaurants and shops are all Chinese, with many Chinese sex workers on Boulevard de la Villette. These Chinese almost all come from Wenzhou, a large province south of Shanghai, whose inhabitants are reputedly known for their commercial skills.Paris is constantly changing as a living organism, both for better and for worse. This book is an incitement to open our eyes and lend an ear to the tumult of this incomparable capital, from the Périphérique to Place Vendôme, its markets of Aligre and Belleville, its cafés and tabacs, its history from Balzac to Sartre. In some thirty succinct vignettes, from bookshops to beggars, Art Nouveau to street sounds, Parisian writers to urban warts, Jacobins to Surrealism, Hazan offers a host of invaluable aperçus, illuminated by a matchless knowledge of his native city.Trade ReviewA jewel of a book. A must read for any aspirant Parisian flâneur or intellectually curious visitor to the city. Hazan reminds us that Paris is so much more than its wide boulevards and antiseptic tourist spots. He invites us to consider its multi-layered, multi-linguistic, multicultural, amorphous past and present. Paris in Turmoil is the perfect aperitif to the city and will enrich any visit. Better still, it can be read in one sitting on the Eurostar on your way there. -- Edward Chisholm, author of A Waiter in Paris: Adbentures in the Dark Heart of the CityHazan meshes history, architecture, philosophy, and social geography in this concise yet wide-ranging tribute to his native Paris. Throughout, Hazan expertly reflects on the city's cultural and intellectual transformations, and spotlights writers who "left their mark on the city," including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. The result is an astute and opinionated tour of one of the world's great cities. * Publishers Weekly *Hazan, a political activist and insatiable flâneur ("stroller," roughly), has compiled something far greater than musings on the City of Light. Read together, these pieces offer an extended invitation to the reader to take the many layers of Parisian life and history more seriously and give them the attention they merit...Readers already familiar with Paris will find this fiery and charming volume the perfect companion for a thought-provoking walk around the City of Light. -- Library JournalFascinating ... Hazan's focus on the detail, colour and texture of Paris has the effect of transporting you there. -- Rhian E. Jones * New Humanist *

Read more less