Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions Books

Book SynopsisIn October 1998, the erstwhile Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London, charged with crimes against humanity by a Spanish magistrate. But over the 16 months that Pinochet was detained, intriguing questions went unanswered about his close ties with Britain. Why was Lady Thatcher so keen to defend the General? And why was Tony Blair''s usually cautious government prepared to have him arrested? As Andy Beckett uncovers, the answers reside deep within the long and shadowy history of relations between Britain and Chile.''An outstanding achievement, and mesmerically readable . . . Beckett has surely written one of the best political travelogues of the year.'' Sunday Times''I am stirred and astonished at [Andy Beckett''s] brilliance, and by the imaginative sympathy with which he rekindles the arguments and emotions of a period he never knew.'' Christopher Hitchens, London Review of Books

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Ancien Régime and the Revolution is a comparison of revolutionary France and the despotic rule it toppled. Alexis de Tocqueville (180559) is an objective observer of both periods providing a merciless critique of the ancien régime, with its venality, oppression and inequality, yet acknowledging the reforms introduced under Louis XVI, and claiming that the post-Revolution state was in many ways as tyrannical as that of the King; its once lofty and egalitarian ideals corrupted and forgotten. Writing in the 1850s, Tocqueville wished to expose the return to despotism he witnessed in his own time under Napoleon III, by illuminating the grand, but ultimately doomed, call to liberty made by the French people in 1789. His eloquent and instructive study raises questions about liberty, nationalism and justice that remain urgent today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe French Revolution marks the foundation of the modern political world. It was in the crucible of the Revolution that the political forces of conservatism, liberalism and socialism began to find their modern form, and it was the Revolution that first asserted the claims of universal individual rights, on which our current understandings of citizenship are based. But the Terror was, as much as anything else, a civil war, and such wars are always both brutal and complex. The guillotine in Paris claimed some 1,500 official victims, but executions of captured counter-revolutionary rebels ran into the tens of thousands, and deaths in the areas of greatest conflict probably ran into six figures, with indiscriminate massacres being perpetrated by both sides.The story of the Terror is a story of grand political pronouncements, uprisings and insurrections, but also a story of survival against hunger, persecution and bewildering ideological demands, a story of how a state, even withTrade ReviewDavid Andres s' important new book is a major contribution in our efforts to rethink the French Revolution . . . It is also exceptionally well-written * Timothy Tacket, author of BECOMING A REVOLUTIONARY AND WHEN THE KING TOOK FLIGHT *Commendably fair and even-handed . . . A lucid study * Munro Price, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *The most authoritative treatment we are likely to have for many years * William Doyle, INDEPENDENT *A meticulous account . . . stands beside Simon Schama's Citizens * LITERARY REVIEW *

Read more less

Book SynopsisRevolutionary practitioner, theorist, factional chief, sparkling writer, ‘ladies’ man’ (e.g., his affair with Frieda Kahlo), icon of the Revolution, anti-Jewish Jew, philosopher of everyday life, grand seigneur of his household, father and hunted victim, Trotsky lived a brilliant life in extraordinary times. Robert Service draws on hitherto unexamined archives and on his profound understanding of Russian history to draw a portrait of the man and his legacy, revealing that though his followers have represented Trotsky as a pure revolutionary soul and a powerful intellect unjustly hounded into exile by Stalin and his henchmen. The reality is very different, as this masterful and compelling biography reveals.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOBSERVER BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2015TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BOOKS OF THE YEAR and OBSERVER BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014WINNER OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION''S MORRIS D. FORKOSCH PRIZE 2016''The most complete and plausible exploration of the roots of the 1916 Rebellion... essential reading'' Colm TóibínVivid Faces surveys the lives and beliefs of the people who made the Irish Revolution: linked together by youth, radicalism, subversive activities, enthusiasm and love. Determined to reconstruct the world and defining themselves against their parents, they were in several senses a revolutionary generation.The Ireland that eventually emerged bore little relation to the brave new world they had conjured up in student societies, agit-prop theatre groups, vegetarian restaurants, feminist collectives, volunteer militias, Irish-language summer schools, and radical newspaper offices. Roy Foster''Trade ReviewTerrific . . . It is a measure of his literary skill, as well as his expertise as a historian, that he is able to counterpoint so many life stories without sinking into confusion . . . Foster's prose is urbanely precise and he can pin down character as memorably as Yeats . . . Foster has the alertness of an Edwardian novelist to the nuances of class and location . . . depicted with masterly economy in all its brutality, confusion and courage . . . Patient, analytical, articulate, this is a book that counts because it avoids the Irish vice of replacing history with commemoration -- John Kerrigan * Guardian *This book . . . reveals a rich and assorted cast of characters with a diversity of views and preoccupations - feminism, socialism, religious diversity, sexual liberalism, the works . . . The beauty of Vivid Faces is that it is squarely based on the testimonies of the characters themselves - letters, diaries, articles, books and later memories - and shows them as they were, not in the light of what they became, especially those revolutionaries sanctified in the selective historical memory of the Irish Republic . . . There are very funny accounts here of how summer schools in the Irish-speaking west of Ireland were an opportunity for unchaperoned young people enthusiastically to pair off . . . There can be few better accounts of [these] people . . . than this book. Foster writes with unconcealed delight about the foibles of these wonderful individuals as well as their achievements . . . There will be any number of accounts of the Easter Rising and its genesis in the run up to the centenary, but few will be as enjoyable as this -- Melanie McDonagh * Spectator *Foster has managed to produce the most complete and plausible exploration of the roots of the 1916 Rebellion and the power it subsequently exerted over the public imagination. As the centenary approaches, his book will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to follow the argument about the Irish revolutionary generation -- Colm Tóibín * New Statesman *A significant accomplishment that makes a serious case for the concept of 'generations' in exploring the origins of the Rising . . . Through personal diaries, letters and journals, [Foster] allows us to see how these young people lived. What follows is a portrait of an Ireland that bears little resemblance to the country that emerged after 1922 . . . Foster's book, in unmatchable prose, is a must-read -- Niamh Gallagher * Times Higher Education *Powerful and absorbing . . . [Foster] draws on decades of engagement with cultural history to bring an original, lively and learned analysis to a fascinating generation . . . Judicious and empathetic, with no attempt to hide his admiration for their idealism, he does not fall into the trap of assessing them acerbically through the lens of the present but allows their own words to breathe. Much of his account is riveting and skilfully woven together, with the analysis enlivened by Foster's customary sparkling prose . . . [he] does a lot to balance male-dominated accounts of the period . . . Crucially, this is not a book built on reductive hindsight; instead it gives us a deep and textured awareness of that "enclosed, self-referencing, hectic world" where the thinkers lived, worked, reflected and dreamed -- Diarmaid Ferriter * Irish Times *Roy Foster . . . has achieved what few have managed: an account of the Irish revolution that captures its quixotic ardour without succumbing to it . . . Vivid Faces is a wonderful book about revolution - both the specific and the general. I read it in the aftermath of Scotland's abortive revolution by referendum and found Foster's analysis painfully wise -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Written by a master-historian, this superbly orchestrated group portrait of Ireland's 'revolutionary generation' from 1890 to 1923 shows how the independence movement drew its ideas, tactics and personnel not from peasant outsiders but metropolitan, middle-class insiders . . . Foster highlights refreshing new perspectives -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *Extraordinary personal journeys outlined in Foster's richly detailed evocation of a period of Irish history in which idealism, bohemianism and artistic creativity went with a resurgence of militant nationalism and what Foster calls 'the cult of the gun' . . . Foster's exhaustively researched history delineates the various streams of cultural and social radicalism that converged in the two decades leading up to the Irish revolution -- Sean O'Hagan * Observer *Sometimes a history book prompts one to reflect on the past and present alike. R F Foster, professor of Irish history at Oxford University, has just published such a text . . . Foster writes so compellingly -- Martin Kettle * Guardian *Written with a stern sense of authority, but simultaneously leaving room for suggestion, interpretation, debate and nuance, Vivid Faces is an immensely important analysis of Irish history that will be used again and again as a reference point for generations to come: continuing a much-needed healthy debate about what exactly Irish Republicanism stands for? -- J P O'Malley * Independent *It is a relief to read such a study, which takes for granted that the world is incorrigibly plural, and which immerses itself in the stuff of passionate human histories -- Neil Hegarty * Telegraph *The book itself is a valuable collection of a broad range of views of participants that publishers dared not mention for decades. It dissects the propaganda to provide an insightful look at the real contemporary thinking . . . invaluable historical record -- Ryle Dwyer * Irish Examiner *Generous, humane and stylish -- Jonathan Keates * Times Literary Supplement BOOKS OF THE YEAR *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSurfing today evokes many things: thundering waves, warm beaches, bikinis and lifeguards, and carefree pleasure. But is the story of surfing really as simple as popular culture suggests? In this first international political history of the sport, Scott Laderman shows that while wave riding is indeed capable of stimulating tremendous pleasure, its globalization went hand in hand with the blood and repression of the long twentieth century. Emerging as an imperial instrument in post-annexation Hawaii, spawning a form of tourism that conquered the littoral Third World, tracing the struggle against South African apartheid, and employed as a diplomatic weapon in America's Cold War arsenal, the saga of modern surfing is only partially captured by Gidget, the Beach Boys, and the film Blue Crush. From nineteenth-century American empire-building in the Pacific to the low-wage labor of the surf industry today, Laderman argues that surfing in fact closely mirrored American foreign relations. Yet despite its less-than-golden past, the sport continues to captivate people worldwide. Whether in El Salvador or Indonesia or points between, the modern history of this cherished pastime is hardly an uncomplicated story of beachside bliss. Sometimes messy, occasionally contentious, but never dull, surfing offers us a whole new way of viewing our globalized world.Trade Review"What Laderman presents is a fascinating account of a sport whose proponents believed it to be apolitical, but facing the politics of a modern world." H-Net "Laderman's history offers intriguing moments in which he pulls together surfing narratives of soldiers and other state agents- illustrating the degree to which pleasure and power were intimately linked in the world that American foreign policy produced." -- Vernadette Vicuna Gonzalez The Journal of American History "An authoritative account of the intersection of politics and surfing." -- Brian Unger The Surfer's Journal "A richly documented and compactly written monograph." -- Richard O. Davies American Historical Review "Well-written and engaging." -- Glyn Ford Asian Review of Books "Empire in Waves deserves the widest possible audience... An excellent example of entertaining writing from a scholar." -- Ed Jaggard Journal of Sports History "Empire in Waves raises important and underanalysed issues in surfing history and culture. With its impressive notes and bibliography, it will contribute to university classrooms and aid academic research in future surfing scholarship." The Journal of Pacific History "Empire of Waves is the best (anti-)beach book I've read in a long time. I highly recommend taking Laderman on vacation with you-he'll absolutely ruin it." -- Tim Paulson Make Magazine "Laderman's highly-readable and broadly-documented analysis of surfing's political history is a timely arrival, not only to the rapidly-evolving scholarly index of surf studies, but also to a contemporary waveriding culture forcefully embracing the political potential of surf-driven initiatives in the form of non-profits, Enviro Business, and drives for sustainability across the surfing world." Canadian Journal of HistoryTable of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION. A Political History of Surfing CHAPTER 1. How Surfing Became American: The Imperial Roots of Modern Surf Culture CHAPTER 2. A World Made Safe for Discovery: Travel, Cultural Diplomacy, and the Politics of Surf Exploration CHAPTER 3. Paradise Found: The Discovery of Indonesia and the Surfing Imagination CHAPTER 4. When Surfing Discovered It Was Political: Confronting South African Apartheid CHAPTER 5. Industrial Surfing: The Commodification of Experience EPILOGUE. A New Millennium NOTES INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe SAS describes its attitude to the use of lethal force as ''Big boys'' games, big boys'' rules''. Anyone caught with a gun or bomb can expect to be shot. In Big Boys'' Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA Mark Urban meticulously explores the security forces'' covert operations in Northern Ireland: from the mid-1970s, when they were stepped up, to the Loughall ambush in 1987, in which eight IRA Provisionals were killed. While charting the successes and failures of special operations during the troubles, Urban reveals the unenviable dilemmas faced by intelligence chiefs engaged in a daily struggle against one of the world''s most sophisticated terrorist organisations.''This is a book that needed to be written and which fulfils the essentials of any Ulster story; it expands understanding beyond fragmented jingoism and newspaper headlines.'' John Stalker, Sunday Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen should we revolt? A life-changing insight into violent political change by one of the world''s greatest political thinkers and author of surprise recent bestseller The Origins of Totalitarianism.''More than any thinker it was Arendt who identified how movements of ideas, racial theories, people and methods ... ultimately disfigured the twentieth century.'' David Olusoga''Arendt''s most profound legacy is in establishing that one has to consider oneself political as part of the human condition. What are your political acts, and what politics do they serve?'' Guardian''How could such a book speak so powerfully to our present moment? The short answer is that we, too, live in dark times.'' Washington Post (on The Origins of Totalitarianism)On Revolution is world-famous political thinker Hannah Arendt''s classic exploration of a phenomenon that has radically res

Read more less

Book SynopsisRobert Service is a Fellow of the British Academy and of St Antony's College, Oxford. He has written several books, including the highly acclaimed Lenin: A Biography, Russia: Experiment with a People, Stalin: A Biography and Comrades: A History of World Communism, as well as many other books on Russia's past and present. His book Trotsky: A Biography was awarded the 2009 Duff Cooper Prize. Married with four children, he lives in London.Trade ReviewBrilliant, original and compelling -- Saul David * Evening Standard *The best book yet on Nicholas after his abdication -- Dominic Lieven * Financial Times *A myth-busting account of the final months of the ruler’s life, from abdication to execution * Guardian *Detailed and painstakingly researched -- Peter Conradi * Sunday Times *A clear-eyed portrait of Nicholas and his limitations . . . an essential corrective * TLS *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1482, Abu Abdallah Muhammad XI became the twenty-third Muslim King of Granada. He would be the last. This is the first history of the ruler, known as Boabdil, whose disastrous reign and bitter defeat brought seven centuries of Moorish Spain to an end. It is an action-packed story of intrigue, treachery, cruelty, cunning, courtliness, bravery and tragedy. Basing her vivid account on original documents and sources, Elizabeth Drayson traces the origins and development of Islamic Spain. She describes the thirteenth-century founding of the Nasrid dynasty, the cultured and stable society it created, and the feuding which threatened it and had all but destroyed it by 1482, when Boabdil seized the throne. The new Sultan faced betrayals by his family, factions in the Alhambra palace, and ever more powerful onslaughts from the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, monarchs of the newly united kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. By stratagem, diplomacy, courage and strength of will Boabdil prolonged his reign for ten years, but he never had much chance of survival. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella, magnificently attired in Moorish costume, entered Granada and took possession of the city. Boabdil went into exile. The Christian reconquest of Spain, that has reverberated so powerfully down the centuries, was complete.Trade ReviewA lively biography ... [Drayson's] account revels in the high drama and spectacular gore of Boabdil's story, which are in plentiful supply. -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *Charming and eye-opening ... Drayson does a splendid job of putting flesh on Boabdil's story -- Giles Tremlett * Guardian *Does justice to Boabdil's life and illuminates the lessons he offers. It is rare today to find a historian with a talent for brevity. In just 180 pages Drayson tells an enthralling and terribly sad story, while forcing the reader to reflect on the nature of heroism. -- Gerard DeGroot * Times *With elegant prose, her book clearly reconstructs the complicated politics of Granada and brings back to life a historical figure shrouded in mystery and legend. Her book is a pleasure to read and an excellent introduction to anyone wishing to delve into the twilight of Muslim Spain. -- Francis Soyer * BBC History Magazine *From her Cambridge vantage point, Dr Drayson retells this familiar but dramatic story. Her book is part history, part biography, and wholly readable...It would be a good book to read on a tren de alta velocidad speeding from Madrid to the south. -- Andrew Breeze * The Tablet *

Read more less

Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2018 NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017''The kind of vision the world needs right now...Pankaj Mishra shouldn''t stop thinking'' Christopher de Bellaigue, Financial Times''This is the most astonishing, convincing, and disturbing book I''ve read in years'' Joe Sacco''Urgent, profound and extraordinarily timely'' John BanvilleHow can we explain the origins of the great wave of paranoid hatreds that seem inescapable in our close-knit world - from American ''shooters'' and ISIS to Trump, from a rise in vengeful nationalism across the world to racism and misogyny on social media? In Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra answers our bewilderment by casting his gaze back to the eighteenth century, before leading us to the present.He shows that as the world became modern those who were unable to fulfil its promises - freedom, stability and prosperity - were increasingly susceptible to demagogues. The many who came late to this new world or were left, or pushed, behind, reacted in horrifyingly similar ways: intense hatred of invented enemies, attempts to re-create an imaginary golden age, and self-empowerment through spectacular violence. It was from among the ranks of the disaffected that the militants of the 19th century arose - angry young men who became cultural nationalists in Germany, messianic revolutionaries in Russia, bellicose chauvinists in Italy, and anarchist terrorists internationally.Today, just as then, the wider embrace of mass politics, technology, and the pursuit of wealth and individualism has cast many more millions adrift in a literally demoralized world, uprooted from tradition but still far from modernity - with the same terrible resultsMaking startling connections and comparisons, Age of Anger is a book of immense urgency and profound argument. It is a history of our present predicament unlike any other.Trade ReviewUrgent, profound and extraordinarily timely -- John BanvilleThis is the most astonishing, convincing, and disturbing book I've read in years * Joe Sacco *Incisive and scary.. a wake-up call -- Nick Fraser * Guardian *Far from reassuring... his vision is unusually broad, accommodating and resistant to categorisation. It is the kind of vision the world needs right now...Pankaj Mishra shouldn't stop thinking. -- Christopher de Bellaigue * Financial Times *This is a framework that pushes aside conventional, familiar divisions of left and right to focus on the profound sense of dislocation and alienation that spawned (and still spawns) movements ranging from fascism to anarchism to nihilism...a short book into which a lot of intellectual history has been packed. -- Laura Miller * Slate *Stimulating... thought-provoking -- Richard Evans * Guardian *A valuable book. Mishra's ideas are bold and initially discomfiting - it's a challenge to look over the head of the latest terrorist and try to dispassionately trace his rage back to Voltaire - but it's undeniably good to stretch intellectual muscles and test your own prejudices. Mishra invites us to hear the ugly, muffled shouts beneath the "drumbeat" of Western civilisation. -- Julie McDowall * Sunday Herald *Mishra reads like a brilliant autodidact, putting to shame the many students who dutifully did the reading for their classes but missed the incandescent fire and penetrating insight in canonical texts... no one has discerned better than Mishra just how far we still are from the top. -- Samuel Moyn * New Republic *Around the world, both East and West, the insurrectionary fury of militants, zealots and populists has overturned the post-Cold-War global consensus. Where does their rage come from, and where will it end? One of the sharpest cultural critics and political analysts releases his landmark "history of the present -- Boyd Tonkin * Newsweek *An original attempt to explain today's paranoid hatreds...Iconoclastic...Mr. Mishra shocks on many levels. * Economist *Along with quotations from Voltaire, Rousseau, and other familiar figures of Western Civ, Age of Anger includes observations from Iranian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and other nations' scholars; their perspectives complement Mishra's deep understanding of global tensions....In probing for the wellspring of today's anger he hits on something real -- Peter Coy * Bloomberg Businessweek *Provocative...We'll need new philosophical frameworks to understand the phenomenon of political anger in a global perspective; what's fascinating about Mishra's novel reading is that it draws on familiar philosophical and literary touchstones while turning them on their head...A brilliant work -- Eric Banks * Bookforum *A disturbing but imperatively urgent analysis -- Bryce Christensen * Booklist *A probing, well-informed investigation of global unrest calling for 'truly transformative thinking' about humanity's future * Kirkus Reviews *Sensitive and illuminating....Makes a powerful case for the influence of a certain group of anti-rational and anti-commercial ideas which have influenced our world.,..Mishra's contribution is to show us how these ideas have become 'viral' and what that means for all of us. -- Jonathan Steinberg * The Spectator *Incisive...Age of Anger, which was completed after the Brexit vote but before Trump's victory, reminds us that the dialectical movement between these two poles - between a desire to be oneself and a desire to belong to something larger than oneself - has been a feature of Western political life since the Enlightenment -- Justin E.H. Smith * Harper’s *Pankaj Mishra's Age of Anger...exemplifies his characteristic eloquence and erudition...Leaders who are struggling to process the present backlash against core aspects of globalization would do well to heed Mishra's plea to "remember the irreducible human being, her or his fears, desires, and resentments." -- Ali Wyne * The National Interest *An impressively probing and timely work...Highly engaging * Publishers Weekly *Scintillating...Age of Anger looks an awful lot like a masterwork. We're only a few weeks into 2017, but one of the books of the year is already here -- Christopher Bray * The Tablet *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“A classic in subaltern studies as well as in postcolonial studies.”—José Rabasa, University of California, Berkeley“A remarkable achievement.”—Patricia Seed, Rice University“Full of sparkling ideas and written in vivid and compelling prose.”—Arjun Appadurai, University of Chicago“Guha’s contributions to historiography are fundamental to colonial and postcolonial studies. By directing our focus to the question of consciousness or self-awareness in the making of peasant rebellions in colonial India, he corrects and redirects the writing of history.”—Sara Castro-Klarén, Johns Hopkins University“The most significant—and potentially the most influential—work of social theory since Michel Foucault’s Dicipline and Punish.”—John Beverley, University of Pittsburgh“Very unusual and original. Guha presents a new set of conceptual categories to understand the peasant situation in the postcolonial era. His work has transcended the local boundaries of India and has inspired the foundation of similar research projects in the Latin American field such as the Latin American Subaltern Studies Group.”—Ileana Rodriguez, Ohio State University“Written in a concise, easy-to-read style and offering a wealth of examples to illustrate each point, Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India is the kind of book that our students desperately crave.”—Marcia Stephenson, Purdue UniversityTable of ContentsForeward to the Duke Edition ix Preface xv Abbreviations xvii 1. Introduction 1 2. Negation 18 3. Ambiguity 77 4. Modality 109 5. Solidarity 167 6. Transmission 220 7. Territorality 278 8. Epilogue 333 Glossary 339 Bibliography 345 Index 355

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022WINNER OF THE POL ROGER DUFF COOPER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE Eleven years when Britain had no king.In 1649 Britain was engulfed by revolution.On a raw January afternoon, the Stuart king, Charles I, was executed for treason. Within weeks the English monarchy had been abolished and the useless and dangerous' House of Lords discarded. The people, it was announced, were now the sovereign force in the land. What this meant, and where it would lead, no one knew.The Restless Republic is the story of the extraordinary decade that followed. It takes as its guides the people who lived through those years. Among them is Anna Trapnel, the daughter of a Deptford shipwright whose visions transfixed the nation. John Bradshaw, the Cheshire lawyer who found himself trying the King. Marchamont Nedham, the irrepressible newspaper man and puppet master of propaganda. Gerrard Winstanley, who strove for a Utopia of common owTrade Review‘Her narrative brims with life, colour, humour and humanity … A dazzling achievement, and I loved every page’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times ‘In this ceaselessly fascinating account of one of the most epochal events in the country’s history, the deserved winner of the Pol Roger Duff Cooper prize, Anna Keay skilfully delves beneath the well-worn cliches about the Commonwealth and brings a time of quiet, uncertain and ultimately fruitless revolution to vivid life. It is hard to imagine a better examination of the Protectorat’ Alexander Larman, Observer ‘This is an exceptional book about an exceptional time … meticulously researched and deftly drawn character studies … A triumph’ John Adamson, author of The Noble Revolt ‘An exceptional feat of imaginative engagement. Never have the kingless years been made so vivid, and never has vividness contributed so much to the understanding of them. Keay has brought off an ingenious literary experiment… An entrancing achievement’ Blair Worden, TLS ‘Wonderful…. Tells the story of how the British and Irish people came to be who they are’ Clive Myrie ‘Deft, confident, deeply learned and provocative’ Rory Stewart ‘[A] vivid panorama … Keay conjures up with nuance and panache the single most fascinating decade in the history of Britain and Ireland, revealing it to be at once weirdly ancient and strangely modern’ Paul Lay, The Times ‘Keay offers us a world turned upside down; but also a world made real. That’s a remarkable achievement’ Adrian Tinniswood, Sunday Telegraph ***** ‘Readers both expert and casual will revel in seeing this period brought to noisy, brash, colourful [life] by the skilled pen of a natural storyteller’ Aspects of History

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A compelling and wry narrative of one of the most intellectually thrilling eras of British history' Guardian. ***************** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2020 England, 1651. Oliver Cromwell has defeated his royalist opponents in two civil wars, executed the Stuart king Charles I, laid waste to Ireland, and crushed the late king's son and his Scottish allies. He is master of Britain and Ireland. But Parliament, divided between moderates, republicans and Puritans of uncompromisingly millenarian hue, is faction-ridden and disputatious. By the end of 1653, Cromwell has become 'Lord Protector'. Seeking dragons for an elect Protestant nation to slay, he launches an ambitious 'Western Design' against Spain's empire in the New World. When an amphibious assault on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in 1655 proves a disaster, a shaken Cromwell is convinced that God is punishing England for its sinfulness. But the imposition of the rule of the Major-Generals – bureaucrats with a penchant for closing alehouses – backfires spectacularly. Sectarianism and fundamentalism run riot. Radicals and royalists join together in conspiracy. The only way out seems to be a return to a Parliament presided over by a king. But will Cromwell accept the crown? Paul Lay narrates in entertaining but always rigorous fashion the story of England's first and only experiment with republican government: he brings the febrile world of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate to life, providing vivid portraits of the extraordinary individuals who inhabited it and capturing its dissonant cacophony of political and religious voices. ***************** Reviews: 'Briskly paced and elegantly written, Providence Lost provides us with a first-class ticket to this Cromwellian world of achievement, paradox and contradiction. Few guides take us so directly, or so sympathetically, into the imaginative worlds of that tumultuous decade' John Adamson, The Times. 'Providence Lost is a learned, lucid, wry and compelling narrative of the 1650s as well as a sensitive portrayal of a man unravelled by providence' Jessie Childs, Guardian. Trade ReviewBriskly paced and elegantly written, Providence Lost provides us with a first-class ticket to this Cromwellian world of achievement, paradox and contradiction. Few guides take us so directly, or so sympathetically, into the imaginative worlds of that tumultuous decade -- John Adamson, Sunday TimesProvidence Lost is a learned, lucid, wry and compelling narrative of the 1650s as well as a sensitive portrayal of a man unravelled by providence -- Jessie Childs, GuardianIn telling us what Cromwell believed, Lay helps us to understand the man, but his witty and incisive book is also a reminder why the English, in particular, hate the bossy pieties of the puritanical elite, and distrust radicalism * The Times *Lay offers a vivid, clear and highly engrossing narrative of these fast moving and complicated events * Financial Times *An enlightening study of the often overlooked rule of Oliver Cromwell * Sunday Telegraph *A book for the general reader, based on a thorough knowledge of the sources, and written with perceptiveness as well as narrative zest – a lively, attention-holding account of what is surely the strangest decade in British history * Sunday Telegraph *A superb summary of the ebbs and flows of the Interregnum, a strangely 'lost' decade * Herald *[An] absorbing and beautifully written book * BBC History Magazine *A readable and witty guide to England's republican interregnum * The Times. *A highly readable book, full of wit, sober thought and scholarly rigour * Observer. *A spirited and vivid survey of the brief period in which Cromwell held the dangerously ill-defined role of "lord protector" * New Statesman *A history of Cromwell's republic that contends this was actually a period of intense creativity * Sunday Times *Fascinating new history of the English interregnum * Sunday Times *A compelling and exciting account of a critical period in early modern British history * New Books Network *A brilliant aid to understanding modern Britain and, indirectly, the United States; the lessons of the Protectorate were not lost on the founding fathers * Catholic Herald *Told in gripping fashion; each chapter is filled with enough intrigue to fuel a TV soap opera. The various warring factions are explained with vigour and clarity, while lesser-known events, such as a failed attempt to assassinate Cromwell, are packed with detail * Discover Britain *Paul Lay is bracing and undeceived in his judgments... Lay shows us what a distinctive period it was, full of frenetic excursions and alarms but for most people not unendurable, shallow-rooted in the good sense... Lay treats each volcanic caprice of the Protector's with the amused scepticism it deserves, not struggling overmuch to discern some consistent purpose behind it' * London Review of Books *What Lay gives us is a warts-and-all picture of a man with the weaknesses of any other, and who struggled heroically to stabilise, and to attempt to unite, a country shattered by a decade of civil wars * The Critic Magazine *Cromwell's republic was more energetic than we thought, reveals this brisk study * Sunday Times *Fascinating * The Times *Interesting material on the rule of Cromwell's major generals and on the debate on the succession to Cromwell and the falling out with John Lambert, who had been seen as Cromwell's deputy * Chartist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is impossible to understand capitalism without analyzing slavery, an institution that tied together three world regions: Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The exploitation of slave labor led to a form of proto-globalization in which violence was indispensable to the production of wealth. Against the background of this expanding circulation of capital and slave labor, the first revolution in Latin America took place: the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791 and culminated with Haiti’s declaration of independence in 1804. Taking the Haitian Revolution as a paradigmatic case, Grüner shows that modernity is not a linear evolution from the center to the periphery but, rather, a co-production developed in the context of highly unequal power relations, where extreme forms of conquest and exploitation were an indispensable part of capital accumulation. He also shows that the Haitian Revolution opened up a path to a different kind of modernity, or “counter-modernity,” a path along which Latin America and the Caribbean have traveled ever since. A key work of critical theory from a Latin American perspective, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of critical and cultural theory and of Latin America, as well as anyone concerned with the global impact of capitalism, colonialism, and race.Trade Review“Eduardo Grüner’s remarkable book is not only a brilliant discussion of slavery and the Haitian Revolution; it is also a profound philosophical and critical reflection, from the viewpoint of the slaves’ rebellion, on the contradictions of Eurocentric Enlightenment and of Western (capitalist) modernity.”Michael Löwy, author of The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx “What is revolutionary today about the Haitian Revolution, in which African slaves brought Napoleon's army to ignominious defeat? How does it fundamentally challenge ways of thinking not just about modern history, but about thinking itself? Read Grüner’s book to find the answers to these pertinent questions.”Michael Taussig, Professor, Columbia University, Class of 1933Table of ContentsPreface by Gisela CatanzaroPrologueChapter 1: The Category of Slavery and Modern Racism Elements for an Ethno-Historical Sociology of Ancient and Modern SlaveryThe Question of RacismRacism in “Early Modernity” The Traces of Time A Better World? Chapter 2: The Rebellion of the (Slave) Masses and the Haitian Revolution On the Combined and UnevenFrom Particularism to (False) Universalism: A “Philosophical Revolution”The (Uncertain) Logic of Slave RebellionsThe Rest of the Americas Enter Saint-Domingue/Haiti A Portrait of Saint-Domingue/Haiti in 1791An Excursus on Vodou and its Revolutionary CharacterThe Social Complexities of Saint-DomingueThe Confused Dynamic of the RevolutionThe Meaning(s) of the Haitian RevolutionOn “Creative” ViolenceChapter 3: The Disavowed “Philosophical Revolution”: From Enlightenment Thought to the Crisis of Abstract Universalism Shadows in the Enlightenment: Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Slavery Slavery without Scare Quotes: Between Hegel and MarxThe Black Enlightenment: The Haitian “Constitutional Revolution” The Difficulties of Theorizing (Haitian) RevolutionLiterature and Art Have Their SayEpilogue

Read more less

Book SynopsisGeorgian Portraits chronicles everyday life in the Republic of Georgia in the decade that followed the Rose Revolution of 2003. Recent anthropological developments argue for the use of "afterlives" as an analytical notion through which to understand processes of socio-political change. Based on a series of portraits, Martin Demant Frederiksen and Katrine Bendtsen Gotfredsen employ the theory of social afterlives to examine the role of revolution in the formation of a modern Georgia. The book contributes to a deeper understanding of life in the aftermath of political reform, depicting the hopefulness of the Georgian population, but also the subsequent return to political disillusionment which lead them to a revolution in the first place.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn October 1999 during a trip to Cairo, Cyrus Kadivar, an exiled Iranian living in London, visited the tomb of the last shah, which opened a Pandora’s box. Haunted by nostalgia for a bygone era, he recalled a protected and idyllic childhood in the fabled city of Shiraz and his coming of age during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Back in London, he reflected on what had happened to him and his family after their uprooting and decided to conduct his own investigation into why he lost his country. He spent the next ten years seeking out witnesses who would shed light on the last days of Pahlavi rule. Among those he met were a former empress, ex-courtiers, disaffected revolutionaries, and the bereaved relatives of those who perished in the cataclysm. In Farewell Shiraz, Kadivar tells the story of his family and childhood against the tumultuous backdrop of twentieth-century Iran, from the 1905–1907 Constitutional Revolution to the fall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, before presenting accounts of his meetings with key witnesses to the Shah’s fall and the rise of Khomeini. Each of the people interviewed provides a richly detailed picture of the momentous events that took place and the human drama behind them. Combining exquisite vignettes with rare testimonials and first-hand interviews, Farewell Shiraz draws us into a sweeping yet often intimate account of a vanished world and offers a compelling investigation into a political earthquake whose reverberations still live with us today.

Read more less

Book SynopsisOver recent decades China has experienced massive change and development. China is the world's fastest growing economy, and has become a global superpower once again. But this development has thrown up a number of seemingly intractable contradictions, both political and economic. In this panoramic study of Chinese history in the twentieth century and its place in the development of global capitalism, Lin Chun argues that the paradoxes of contemporary Chinese society are not simply the product of the development of capitalism or modernity in the country. They are instead the product of the contradictions of its long revolutionary history, as well as the social and political consequences of its post-socialist transition. Published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Revolution and Counterrevolution in China charts China's epic revolutionary trajectory in search of a socialist alternative to the global system, and asks whether market reform must repudiate and overturn the revolution and its legacy.Trade ReviewThis brilliant book makes a great contribution to the historical research, theoretical exploration, and political debates surrounding China. Lin Chun locates her reflections in a broad historical context, which ranges from classical questions posed by Adam Smith, Max Weber, and Karl Marx to the diverse new trends of historical interpretation. Her succinct and incisive analysis offers a much-needed perspective. -- Wang Hui, author of The End of the Revolution (Praise for China and Global Capitalism)While most people have already cast China as a capitalist country with a communist government, Lin Chun shows that there may be life in Chinese socialism yet. Combining erudition, passion, and an engaging writing style, Lin challenges a lot of conventional wisdom about China. This book should be on the shelf of everyone who has any interest in the course of the Chinese economy and society. -- Meghnad Desai (Praise for The Transformation of Chinese Socialism)Even in the increasingly crowded field of scholars analyzing how the CCP intends to govern China, Lin's voice is worth paying attention to, not just for her insight into many of the events that she describes, but also as a window into the thinking of a contemporary and critic of the generation currently in power in China. -- Xiaochen Su * The News Lens *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis''People can only be free in relation to one another.''Three exhilarating and inspiring essays in which the great twentieth-century political philosopher argues that there can be no freedom without politics, and no politics without freedom.One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Financial Times and Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year'As powerfully intimate as it is politically incendiary' VOGUE'Private Revolutions could be a Netflix series, for family, violence and romance abound' IRISH TIMES 'A portrait of China through four women who refused to accept the life laid out for them. Incredible' SUNDAY TIMES 'A revelatory, moving and tender tale of hopes, fears and change' PETER FRANKOPANThis is a book about the coming of age of four women born in China in the 1980s and 1990s, in a society about to change beyond recognition.It is about Leiya, who wants to escape the fate of the women in her village. Still underage, she bluffs her way on to the factory floor. It is about June, who at fifteen sets what her family thinks is an impossible goal: to attend university rather than raise pigs. It is about Siyue, r

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Spectator and Prospect Book of the YearWinner of the American Library in Paris Book Award'Ceaselessly interesting, knowledgeable and evocative' - Spectator'A fresh way to write history' - Alan Johnson'An amused, erudite homage to France . . . ambitious and original' - The Times_____Original, knowledgeable and endlessly entertaining, France: An Adventure History is an unforgettable journey through France from the first century BC to the present day.Drawn from countless new discoveries and thirty years of exploring France on foot, in the library and across 30,000 miles on the author’s beloved bike, it begins with Gaulish and Roman times and ends in the age of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, the Gilets Jaunes and Covid-19.From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar – Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France – but all are presented in a shining new light by Graham Robb.Frequently hilarious, always surprising, this is a a vivid, living history of one of the world’s most fascinating nations, it will make even seasoned Francophiles wonder if they really know that terra incognita which is currently referred to as ‘France’._____‘Packed full of discoveries’ - The Sunday Times'A gorgeous tapestry of insights, stories and surprises' - Fintan O'Toole'A rich and vibrant narrative . . . clear-eyed but imaginative storytelling' - Financial Times'Full of life' - ProspectTrade ReviewA stunning history of France... Graham Robb deserves to be a national treasure. * Spectator *A quirky chronicle of our neighbour . . . a witty, free-ranging homage to the French people. * The Times *Robb's concise and fast-paced writing pedals along with never a dull paragraph . . . a dazzling and moving contribution to a long tradition. * Sunday Times *Traverses the ages from Gaul to the gilets jaunes and the pandemic . . . a compelling guide. * Times Literary Supplement *History on two wheels and in four dimensions. * Wall Street Journal *A rich and vibrant narrative. * Financial Times *Some books seem to spring from a whole lifetime and Graham Robb's France is one of those special creations... Robb's sparkling prose, sly wit and intellectual exuberance make for a gorgeous tapestry of insights, stories and surprises. * Fintan O'Toole *With joy, curiosity and more than a dash of ambition, Robb brings 2,000 years of French history to life. * Washington Post *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the second edition of The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know, renowned Middle East scholar James L. Gelvin explains how in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR, the American invasion of Iraq, and the Arab uprisings of 2010-11, a new Middle East has emerged. Syria, Libya, and Yemen have become crisis states, where warlords vie against governments and each other. The economies of Iran, Turkey, and Lebanon, weakened by corruption, sanctions, and neoliberal economic policies, have imploded. Some states have doubled-down on repression, while others intervene in the internal affairs of their neighbors with impunity. The revised and expanded edition explores these hallmarks of the New Middle East, along with the end of American hegemony in the region, the expansion of conflict zones, the continued centrality of the Saudi-Iranian competition, and the ramifications of the breakdown of the Israel-Palestine peace process. It also highlights the crisis of human security brought oTrade ReviewBalanced, rigorous, and sparkling with insights, The New Middle East: What Everyone Needs to Know is a wonderful primer on a region long dominated by polemics and easy generalizations. James L. Gelvin brings a historian's sensibility and jargon-free prose to illuminate the afflictions that have wracked the modern Middle East-civil war, militancy, and authoritarianism, to name a few-while never losing sight of its enormous human potential. This is a must-read for veteran observers and newcomers alike. * Frederic Wehrey, Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, author of Sectarian Politics in the Gulf: From the Iraq War to the Arab Uprisings? *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE UNTOLD STORY OF THE BERBICE SLAVE REBELLION Winner of the 2021 Cundill History Prize Winner of the 2021 Frederick Douglass Prize 'A gripping tale about the human need for freedom ... spellbinding' NPR 'Impressively detailed ... Kars provokes the reader into seeing the many sides involved in this bloody and desperate struggle with empathy and pity ... excellent' Paterson Joseph, actor and author of The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho 'A masterpiece ... a story for the ages' Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World In February 1763, thousands of slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice - in present-day Guyana - launched a massive rebellion - and very nearly succeeded. For an entire year, they fought their enslavers, dreaming of establishing a free state, what would have been the first Black republic. Instead, they vanished from history. Blood on the River is the explosive story of this forgotten revolution, an event that almost changed the face of the Americas. Historian Marjoleine Kars draws on long-buried Dutch interrogation transcripts to reconstruct a rich day-by-day account of this extraordinary event, providing a rare 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 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 *Brilliant ... 900 testimonies give unparalleled access to the complex dynamics of resistance and the voices of the enslaved ... A tour de force -- Catherine Hall FBA FRHS, Emerita Professor of History at UCL and Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British SlaveryAn impressively detailed account of one of the earliest resistance battles against the horrors of slavery. Kars provokes the reader into seeing the many sides involved in this bloody and desperate struggle with empathy and pity. There's a sense of the futility of the fight against the Dutch and European Empires, but somehow she manages to convey hope and a degree of heroism on the side of those fighting for their freedom ... excellent -- Paterson Joseph, actor and author of The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius SanchoA 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 SynopsisA Kirkus Reviews Best YA Book of 2022 A USBBY 2023 Outstanding International BookA 2022 Foreword INDIES Bronze Winner (Graphic Novels & Comics Category)Honorable mention, 2023 Children's Africana Book Awards2022 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award Overfloweth honoreeNominated for the TLA Maverick List All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa revives six true stories of resistance by marginalized South Africans against the country’s colonial government in the years leading up to Apartheid. In six parts—each of which is illustrated by a different South African artist—All Rise shares the long-forgotten struggles of ordinary, working-class women and men who defended the disempowered during a tumultuous period in South African history. From immigrants and miners to tram workers and washerwomen, the everyday people in these stories bore the brunt of oppression and in some cases risked their lives to bring about positive change for future generations. This graphic anthology breathes new life into a history dominated by icons, and promises to inspire all readers to become everyday activists and allies. The diverse creative team behind All Rise, from an array of races, genders, and backgrounds, is a testament to the multicultural South Africa dreamed of by the heroes in these stories—true stories of grit, compassion, and hope, now being told for the first time in print.Trade Review"Exhaustively researched, beautifully illustrated, completely unflinching. All Rise is exactly what a historical comic should be."— C.Spike Trotman, Cartoonist, Founder: Iron Circus Comics“Between the covers of All Rise, Richard Conyngham and a team – no a confederation – of South African artists pull back the curtains on the hidden history of popular resistance to oppression in South Africa before apartheid. Excavated from their hiding places in the archives, these are the virtually untold stories of working men and women – washers, miners, immigrant laborers, farmers. Most importantly, these stories are made legible to anyone, anywhere, as universal histories of defiance and struggle that use art and text to do more than either could alone. Splendid to read on your own, this is also a brilliant tool for the classroom or seminar, complete with original evidence and a plethora of supporting material.”— Trevor R. Getz, author of Abina and the Important Men“This beautifully illustrated graphic novel telling the story of cases about law and social justice in South Africa in the first half of the twentieth century brings them vividly to life. Not only a great read, it is also a valuable educational resource that should spark important conversations about law, (in)justice and history across our country.” – Kate O’Regan, retired Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa“An innovative and impactful way to tell our history. This is the history book I didn't know I needed!” – Dr. Sithembile Mbete, University of Pretoria"For anyone wanting to learn more about the pre-Apartheid culture of South Africa, this book provides a starting point, and with enough information that it would be possible to follow any one of these stories to more information." – ICv2 (Nick Smith, Library Technician and Community Services, Pasadena Public Library in California)“These are smaller, lesser-known stories of South Africa’s past, but no less powerful and important. The tales told within the pages of All Rise are anchored in history, and elevated by subtle and nuanced characters, written with recognition and respect for their roles in these important events. The diversity of art flavours each tale with its own distinct atmosphere, complimenting and enhancing Conyngham’s writing and making every story uniquely accessible.” – Luke Molver, author/illustrator, Shaka Rising and King Shaka: Zulu Legend"As a history teacher, one of the biggest challenges in the classroom is to make the past relatable and accessible to students. All Rise does just that by bringing primary sources to life and contextualizing them in an approachable manner for students. The attention to detail is riveting and the historiography behind the stories will challenge students to think about new ways to present history to future generations. Though a historical work, the questions raised about human rights, citizenship, and systems of justice resonate strongly today. I am thankful for the work Richard Conyngham and all the folks at Catalyst Press are doing and look forward to the class discussions this reading will ignite." –Randall Martinez, Colorado AcademyIncluded in the University of Pittsburgh's Global Issues Through Literature SeriesNamed one of Brittle Paper's "100 Notable African Books of 2022"Included on the United States Board on Books for Young People 2023 Outstanding International Books ListHonorable mention, 2023 Children's Africana Book Awards“Perfect and detailed glimpses into real-life historical events.” – 2022 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award Committee, selected as an Overfloweth honoree

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book reinterprets the history of nineteenth and twentieth-century revolutions by composing a constellation of "dialectical images": Marx's "locomotives of history," Alexandra Kollontai's sexually liberated bodies, Lenin's mummified body, Auguste Blanqui's barricades and red flags, the Paris Commune's demolition of the Vendome Column, among several others. It connects theories with the existential trajectories of the thinkers who elaborated them, by sketching the diverse profiles of revolutionary intellectuals-from Marx and Bakunin to Luxemburg and the Bolsheviks, from Mao and Ho Chi Minh to José Carlos Mariátegui, C.L.R. James, and other rebellious spirits from the South-as outcasts and pariahs. And finally, it analyzes the entanglement between revolution and communism that so deeply shaped the history of the twentieth century. This book thus merges ideas and representations by devoting an equal importance to theoretical and iconographic sources, offering for our troubled present a new intellectual history of the revolutionary past.Trade ReviewOffering one of the most unsentimental yet non-reactionary meditations on revolution ever written, Traverso comes not to bury or praise the earthly drive to "take heaven by storm" but to understand it anew. Enriched by a lifelong study of historiography and politics, immense historical knowledge, theoretical polyamory, and a compelling artistic eye, this book also features splendid humility in exploring its slippery, complex and important subject. For those who long to craft a different order of things, Traverso's account is essential. For those who want to ponder what spirits revolutions or makes shipwrecks of them, this rare work roams the globe and the library, reflecting on Phnom Penh and Havana, not only Paris and Moscow, and thinking with Weber, Arendt, Fanon and Constant, not only Trotsky, Lenin and Mao. -- Wendy Brown, author of In the Ruins of NeoliberalismThis brilliant essay on the images of revolutions is a unique experiment, which has no equivalent in the vast historiographic literature on the subject. Inspired by Marx, Trotsky ,and Walter Benjamin, it is built as a montage of dialectical images, which function as lamps that illuminate the past. Enzo Traverso, probably the most gifted historian of his generation, does not hide his hostility to what he calls the "octopus of universal commodity reification"; without idealizing the past revolutions , he wants to preserve, in this fascinating and heterodox piece of research, the memory of historical experience. Quoting Benjamin: we cannot ignore the claim that the past has on us. * Michael Löwy *A perfect partnering of author and subject! Enzo Traverso is the Marxist scholar most gifted to present us with a masterfully articulated appraisal of the perplexing presence of concepts and images of revolutions in the political imagination. His astonishing scholarly expertise is on display with stunning elegance to reveal a rich tapestry of material from the 19th and 20th centuries, along with a multitude of riveting actors and thinkers. Revolution is a monumental advance in its sophisticated and supple interpretations; it is also a virtuoso performance in the art of refreshingly precise, rigorously compact exposition, complemented by a novelist's flair for narrative power and dramatic verve. -- Alan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus, University of MichiganBrilliant and beautiful. Now this book exists, it's hard to know how we did without it. -- China MiévilleVividly written, full of sparkling details and sharp theoretical insights... -- Hannah Proctor * Radical Philosophy *Something for every revolutionary. * Socialist Worker *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewVivid and compelling * Economist *Guevara was a figure of epic proportions. These diaries, stark and moving, will be his most enduring monument * Observer *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Books of 2017 in American History""Honorable Mention for the 2018 PROSE Award in U.S. History, Association of American Publishers"

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the third volume in our�series of original English translations�of the Romanov family's�private letters and diaries. As with the other volumes, this�is the first English translation of�her diaries and letters. All of the�materials are held in Russian�archives. The author fortunately�has been given access to the original�documents. Maria Romanov was canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church for her service as a nurse�tending wounded soldiers during World War I. Her diary reveals she felt she was the �black sheep� of the family despite being knows as the�most beautiful of the four sisters. (Lord Mountbatten kept her photo with him his entire life�as a remembrance of his youthful crush on her.) Her letters and diaries include intimate details about Rasputin and the royal family as well as�the family's concern over the war with Germany and the subsequent rise of the Bolsheviks. She was eighteen-years-old when she was murdered by the Bolsheviks.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe 25th January 2011 uprising and the unprecedented dissent and discord to which it gave rise shattered the notion of homogeneity that had characterized state representations of Egypt and Egyptians since 1952. It allowed for the eruption of identities along multiple lines, including class, ideology, culture, and religion, long suppressed by state control. Concomitantly a profusion of women’s voices arose to further challenge the state-managed feminism that had sought to define and carefully circumscribe women’s social and civic roles in Egypt. Women in Revolutionary Egypt takes the uprising as the point of departure for an exploration of how gender in post-Mubarak Egypt came to be rethought, reimagined, and contested. It examines key areas of tension between national and gender identities, including gender empowerment through art and literature (particularly graffiti and poetry) the disciplining of the body, and the politics of history and memory. Shereen Abouelnaga argues that this new cartography of women’s struggle has to be read in a context that takes into consideration the micropolitics of everyday life as well as the larger processes that work to separate the personal from the political. She shows how a new generation of women is resisting, both discursively and visually, the notion of a fixed or ‘authentic’ notion of Egyptian womanhood in spite of prevailing social structures and in face of all gendered politics of imagined nation.Table of ContentsPreface ixIntroduction: Whose Spring? 11. Is There Gender in This Revolution? 13The Road to 2011 13State Feminism: What Is It Good For? 16The Marriage of Nationalism and Gender 19Women’s Agency 24The New Geographics of Identity 26Beyond Gender 312. Gender and the New Text 35New Generation and New World 36The New Transversal Text 39The Visual 42The Eye of the Beholder 48The Iconic 53The New National 553. The New Subversive Poetic Voices 59Sara Allam: Kisses and Loneliness 63Marwa Abu Daif: Mother and Military 68viii ContentsSabrin Mahran: Breaking the Law 73Sara Abdeen: On the Edge 78“Without Huge Losses” 814. Multiple Patriarchies and One Body 85A Utopian and Modern Moment 87Fragile Bodies 91It Is All about the Body 93Islamic Bodies 95Why Do They Hate Us? 985. The Politics of Memory 107The Rise of Memory 108Trauma of the 25 January Revolution 114Documentations of Memory in Social Media 116Gendered Memory after the Eighteen Days 117Shattering the Silence of the Body 124Historical Memory 128Then What? 131Notes 133

Read more less

Book SynopsisLondon was reborn in the fires of the Viking Age, transformed by immigrants and natives, kings and commoners, warriors and saints.In this short history, bestselling historian Thomas Williams explores the profound impact of the Vikings on London. Under the hammer of their assaults the city emerged as a hub of trade, a financial centre, a political prize, and a cauldron of voices and perspectives a place that, a thousand years ago, already embodied much of what London is today.Trade Review Praise for Viking Britain ‘Fresh, vivid and impeccably researched … the most rip-roaring work of nonfiction I read this year’ Tom Holland, Observer, Books of the Year ‘Williams’ infectiously enthusiastic book gives you everything you could want from a history of the Vikings’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year ‘A debut that pulses with the author’s passion for his subject and his mastery of written sources, archaeology and legend. Williams narrates a complex story in enjoyable, lusty prose’ Dan Jones, Sunday Times ‘Viking Britain [is] an engrossing account … Williams is scrupulous to avoid the easy pub-chat message. He writes fluently and with feeling’ Thomas W. Hodgkinson, Spectator 'Williams is a master at conveying the atmosphere of Viking Britain … We are guests at a sensory feast, at times immersed … and at others guided by the comforting hand of firm historical evaluation. Viking Britain is a giddy ride … a real treat’ Philip Parker, Literary Review ‘Williams evocative prose puts flesh on sturdy academic bones. ‘Viking Britain’ is a pleasure to read… a lively, colourful book that explores in high definition what being a Viking really meant. Williams … succeeds where many have failed: to make the truth about the Vikings as entertaining as the fiction’ Giles Kristian, The Times ‘An exemplary work of popular history, at once full of the most up-to-date archaeology and international scholarly thought, and full of the literary flourishes which bring the past most vividly to life for readers: dramatic reconstruction, physical scene-setting and authorial intervention. It is a great success’ Ronald Hutton

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe story of an epochal event in German history, this is also the story of the most important revolution that you might never have heard of.Trade ReviewGerwarth argues in his polished narrative drawing on the eyewitness testimony of famous writers and thinkers that Weimar was not "the doomed republic" of legend, a hopeless 14-year interval between a warmongering Kaiser and Hitlers Nazi dictatorship, but a success in its own right... 'November 1918' is a perceptive study of an orderly people who proved that a revolution need not lead to extremes of left and right. * Martin Ivens, The Times *Gerwarth's November 1918 [is one] of the most stimulating histories of the interwar period to have been published in recent years. * Tony Barber, The Financial Times *Gerwarth's scholarship cannot be faulted... a superlative piece of research into a sequence of events that are of immense importance. * Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph *Readable and informative. * Jonathan Sperber, Times Literary Supplement *Authoritative new account... Gerwarth has... done us [a] service by rescuing the Weimar Republic from what EP Thompson, in another context, called 'the enormous condescension of posterity'. * Brendan Simms, The Irish Times *[Gerwarth's] account is written in clear prose and richly documented with eyewitness accounts from the most vivid diaries and correspondence of the period. As an audacious bid to restore the German Revolution to its rightful place in history, November 1918 could hardly have been more skillfully executed. * Daniel Johnson, Claremont Review of Books *...stands out as one of the most successful... * Alexander Gallus, German Historical Institute London Bulletin *Splendidly researched, and with a striking new thesis... a fascinating study, whose insights will stop you dead even if you thought, as I did, that you already knew this stuff. * James Hawse, The Spectator *Thought-provoking and readable ... Gerwarth's invaluable book shows that, compared to their counterparts in other central European states facing similar turmoil, the moderate German revolutionaries had spectacular success in securing their democracy. By 1929, only cataclysmic economic crisis could overturn what was Europes most open and representative liberal state. Hitler, it seems, got lucky. * Alexander Watson, Literary Review *its salutary to have a fresh account of the birthing pains of that vaunted republic rather than another autopsy of its demise Where Gerwarth most excels is deftly weaving together the impressions of contemporary commentators, of whom he has assembled a rich banquet: Victor Serge, Thomas Mann, Kaethe Kollwitz, Alfred Doeblin, Harry Graf Kessler, and Joseph Roth, among others. * Thomas Meaney, The Washington Examiner *A fascinating narrative of the events that transpired during the time in which Germans called for a more democratic government and more political and social freedom. Throughout the book, the author balances small biographies of important political leaders with the extensive use of newspapers, memoirs, and letterseffectively giving those who lived through the revolution a voice Gerwarths book is a wonderful addition to the history of the Weimar Republic. * Louis Grün, Origins *November 1918 provides a first-rate survey of events and personalities surrounding the revolution in Germany ... Robert Gerwarth has written a detailed account of a fascinating topic. The writing is clear and avoids jargon and theory. The research is thorough, as is made evident by the notes and the comprehensive bibliography. His book has academic credibility but can also be recommended for the general reader. * Jim Burns, Northern Review of Books *Meticulously researched, judiciously argued, and written with enviable panache, November 1918 is an engaging history with much original insight that should become the standard work on the subject. * Professor Anthony McElligott, University of Limerick *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction:

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022WINNER OF THE POL ROGER DUFF COOPER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE Eleven years when Britain had no king.In 1649 Britain was engulfed by revolution.On a raw January afternoon, the Stuart king, Charles I, was executed for treason. Within weeks the English monarchy had been abolished and the useless and dangerous' House of Lords discarded. The people, it was announced, were now the sovereign force in the land. What this meant, and where it would lead, no one knew.The Restless Republic is the story of the extraordinary decade that followed. It takes as its guides the people who lived through those years. Among them is Anna Trapnel, the daughter of a Deptford shipwright whose visions transfixed the nation. John Bradshaw, the Cheshire lawyer who found himself trying the King. Marchamont Nedham, the irrepressible newspaper man and puppet master of propaganda. Gerrard Winstanley, who strove for a Utopia of common owTrade Review‘Her narrative brims with life, colour, humour and humanity … A dazzling achievement, and I loved every page’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times ‘In this ceaselessly fascinating account of one of the most epochal events in the country’s history, the deserved winner of the Pol Roger Duff Cooper prize, Anna Keay skilfully delves beneath the well-worn cliches about the Commonwealth and brings a time of quiet, uncertain and ultimately fruitless revolution to vivid life. It is hard to imagine a better examination of the Protectorat’ Alexander Larman, Observer ‘This is an exceptional book about an exceptional time … meticulously researched and deftly drawn character studies … A triumph’ John Adamson, author of The Noble Revolt ‘An exceptional feat of imaginative engagement. Never have the kingless years been made so vivid, and never has vividness contributed so much to the understanding of them. Keay has brought off an ingenious literary experiment… An entrancing achievement’ Blair Worden, TLS ‘Wonderful…. Tells the story of how the British and Irish people came to be who they are’ Clive Myrie ‘Deft, confident, deeply learned and provocative’ Rory Stewart ‘[A] vivid panorama … Keay conjures up with nuance and panache the single most fascinating decade in the history of Britain and Ireland, revealing it to be at once weirdly ancient and strangely modern’ Paul Lay, The Times ‘Keay offers us a world turned upside down; but also a world made real. That’s a remarkable achievement’ Adrian Tinniswood, Sunday Telegraph ***** ‘Readers both expert and casual will revel in seeing this period brought to noisy, brash, colourful [life] by the skilled pen of a natural storyteller’ Aspects of History

Read more less