Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions Books

Book SynopsisRussian cultural historian Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey sets the diary in its historical context and offers an epilogue to complete the story of the Romanov's journey to martyrdom at the hands of a Bolshevik firing squad in a Siberian basement.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA SPECTATOR AND SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR''So well researched, pacily written and sympathetic to the Auld Cause that it almost makes one a Jacobite'' Andrew Roberts, SpectatorEnthralling . . . Throws us straight into the fresh air, heather, rain and midges of the Hebrides, followed by the swamps and creeks of North America . . . Full of unforgettable glimpses' The TimesThe year is 1746. The Jacobite rebellion has failed catastrophically and Scotland is reeling in the devastating aftermath of the battle of Culloden. Far to the west, on an island in the Outer Hebrides, twenty-four-year-old Flora Macdonald is woken in the dead of night by a messenger with urgent intelligence. Bonnie Prince Charlie is outside, begging for her help. With Flora''s assistance, the Stuart prince is disguised as an Irish maid and smuggled to the Isle of Skye, evading government troops. Flora's bravery and determination will see her immortalised in ballads Trade ReviewIn this enthralling book, which throws us straight into the fresh air, heather, rain and midges of the Hebrides, followed by the swamps and creeks of North America, Fraser fleshes out what for most of us is a sketchy and romanticised area of our general knowledge . . . Full of unforgettable glimpses * The Times *Flora Fraser’s new biography stylishly updates MacDonald’s story -- Nicholas Harris * The Mail on Sunday *Flora Macdonald has met her ideal biographer. Flora Fraser has a born grasp of the mists and tides of high feeling that swirl about her subject to this day. As in all her biographies, she conveys in scholarly fashion a spellbinding sense that rationality and romance are not remotely incompatible but may compose the heart of a life. -- Candia McWilliamFlora Fraser unpicks the whys and wherefores of what happened, the tragic outcome of their enterprise and how Flora Macdonald’s gifts as a survivor and shrewd operator came again and again to the rescue of her family … In the meticulous and deep-delving research for the hugely readable Pretty Young Rebel, Flora says she has built a picture of Flora Macdonald as sure of herself, uncowed by royalty, and egalitarian, a gracious, charming yet artful and grounded product of her island roots. * Press and Journal *Detailed and enjoyable … This is a full and always interesting book, a rich picture of Highland society at a time of change as well as a persuasive and always pleasing account of Flora’s life, a social study as well as a fine telling of a well-known tale, and of the less familiar story of the Scots who chose loyalty to the Crown in America -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *[Flora Macdonald’s] entire life story is interesting, as Flora Fraser shows in this thoroughly researched biography … Fraser tells the story of Flora Macdonald’s life very well, with sympathy, respect and understanding * Literary Review *[In] her well-researched and enthusiastic biography, Flora Fraser recounts Macdonald's life based on facts culled from published and archival sources on both sides of the Atlantic * New York Times *This is a full and always interesting book ... a fine telling of a well-known tale -- Books of the Year 2022 * Scotsman *Flora Fraser, in Pretty Young Rebel, tells the story of those days well and in some detail … Fraser is keen to underline the high personal risk Flora ran throughout … [Flora Macdonald] carried out her own mission with courage, daring and, as Flora Fraser reminds us, unfaltering good sense. * TLS *This new biography by Flora Fraser (who is named after her subject) intends to sift out a 'real Flora' from the spoil heap of sentimental history . . . Nothing in this book is more fascinating that what it suggests about the concept of loyalty . . . After plenty of enterprising research in Britain and in North Carolina, Fraser makes a fresh and exciting narrative * London Review of Books *Fraser's finely detailed and well-researched biography looks behind the legend to unveil a strong and determined woman -- June Sawyers * Booklist *This is one of those lives immortalized by a single decision … the skilful historian Flora Fraser has produced a detailed, dynamic account of her namesake’s colourful cameo role. It will hold surprises for anyone apart from those already utterly enveloped in the heathery Highland mists of this story … In Ms. Fraser’s hands, myth becomes thrilling reality … eye-opening … Ms. Fraser has done a remarkable job of explaining the glamour of this fascinating figure without diminishing it -- Catherine Ostler * Wall Street Journal *A riveting read ... thrilling, while based on intensive archival research as well as local knowledge and tradition ... Fraser's closely researched book not only strips away accretions and elisions, to reconstruct an iconic moment in history. She widens out the canvas to take in the marketing of memory and the creation of factoids ... masterly * Oldie *A lively and highly readable study of the iconic Jacobite heroine. -- Murray Pittock, author of CullodenThis affecting history gives due credit to the real woman at the centre of a captivating legend * Publishers Weekly *PRAISE FOR GEORGE & MARTHA WASHINGTON: Scrupulously researched ... Fraser paints a wonderfully detailed picture of American family life at the end of the pioneering colonial period. -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *Flora Fraser tells the story of a couple, a family and country with sympathy and huge skill ... She is a respectful biographer, scholarly, unshowy and unsensational * Sunday Telegraph *An intimate portrait of America's original power couple ... Impeccably researched and entertaining * The Lady *Elegant ... Fraser mines the sources available to her to reveal the depth of her subjects' attachment to one another * Literary Review *Flora Fraser has provided an insightful portrait in elegant prose with a dash of wit. The book is based on a mastery of the original sources and brings to life, with much imagination, a wonderful marriage in a period of revolution and war. It is written with a light touch, but is a serious account in every respect. This is a book worthy of its subject -- Robert MiddlekaufVivid and detailed ... Carefully researched and clearly argued * The Oldie *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Chillingly original'' Max Hastings''Brilliantly depicts a disastrous failure'' Antony Beevor''Witty and elegant . . . Excellent background to today''s events'' Anne Applebaum''Britain''s most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered'' Simon Jenkins''Vivid and remarkably timely'' Martin SixsmithFrom the bestselling author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of UkraineThe extraordinary story of the West''s intervention into the Russian Civil War In the closing months of the First World War, Britain, America, France and Japan sent 180,000 soldiers to revolutionary Russia, in a doomed attempt to unseat the Bolsheviks. Entangled in what they termed a ''comic opera'' conflict, they crisscrossed the shattered empire in sleds, trains and paddlesteamers, bivouacked in log cabins and felt yurts, torpedoed warships from speedboats, improvised the world''s first air-dropped chemical weapons, and organis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTen Days That Shook the World is John Reed's eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution. A contemporary journalist writing in the first flush of revolutionary enthusiasm, he gives a gripping record of the events in Petrograd in November 1917, when Lenin and the Bolsheviks finally seized power. Containing verbatim reports both of speeches by leaders and the chance comments of bystanders, set against an idealized backcloth of the proletariat, soldiers, sailors, and peasants uniting to throw off oppression, Reed's account is the product of passionate involvement and remains an unsurpassed classic of reporting.

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 Synopsis ''The superb, funny, fascinating story of Lenin''s trans-European rail journey and how it shook the world'' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard, Books of the Year''Splendid ... a jewel among histories, taking a single episode from the penultimate year of the Great War, illuminating a continent, a revolution and a series of psychologies in a moment of cataclysm and doing it with wit, judgment and an eye for telling detail'' David Aaronovitch, The TimesBy 1917 the European war seemed to be endless. Both sides in the fighting looked to new weapons, tactics and ideas to break a stalemate that was itself destroying Europe. In the German government a small group of men had a brilliant idea: why not sow further confusion in an increasingly chaotic Russia by arranging for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the most notorious of revolutionary extremists, currently safely bottled up in neutral Switzerland, to go home?Catherine Merridale''s Lenin on the Train recreates Lenin''s extraordinary journey from harmless exile in Zurich, across a Germany falling to pieces from the war''s deprivations, and northwards to the edge of Lapland to his eventual ecstatic reception by the revolutionary crowds at Petrograd''s Finland Station.With great skill and insight Merridale weaves the story of the train and its uniquely strange group of passengers with a gripping account of the now half-forgotten liberal Russian revolution and shows how these events intersected. She brilliantly uses a huge range of contemporary eyewitnesses, observing Lenin as he travelled back to a country he had not seen for many years. Many thought he was a mere ''useful idiot'', others thought he would rapidly be imprisoned or killed, others that Lenin had in practice few followers and even less influence. They would all prove to be quite wrong.Trade ReviewTwice I missed my stop on the Tube reading this book... this is a jewel among histories, taking a single episode from the penultimate year of the Great War, illuminating a continent, a revolution and a series of psychologies in a moment of cataclysm and doing it with wit, judgment and an eye for telling detail... Catherine Merridale, who won the Wolfson history prize for Red Fortress, her 2013 book about the Kremlin, is one of those historians whose work allows you to understand something more about the world we inhabit now. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *'A detailed look at the famous train journey... fascinatingly realist... [Merridale] is good at capturing the frankly dodgy atmosphere of high politics and low motives that swirled around post-abdication Russia... Merridale can bring humour into the most gruesome moments. -- André Van Loon * Spectator *Catherine Merridale is one of the foremost foreign historians of Russia, combining wry insights with deep sympathy for the human beings suffering the tragedies she writes about... It combines diplomatic intrigue, spycraft, towering personalities, bureaucratic bungling, military history and ideology. Ms Merridale neatly unites background and foreground, and deftly evokes the atmosphere of the time... excellent * Economist *Praise for RED FORTRESS: 'Magnificent ... [a] a superbly written book' Telegraph 'A zingy, razor-keen history of the Kremlin' Spectator Books of the Year 'Exhilarating' * Guardian *A brisk and often witty overview for the lay reader of the circumstances leading up to the February and October revolutions. -- Helen Rappaport * The Sunday Times *With a novelists' readability and a fertile imagination... Merridale retraces his week-long journey... At the same time, she skilfully weaves into the story the unfolding revolution * Observer Review *With the 100th anniversary of the two Russian revolutions of 1917 around the corner... surely no author will give a better account than Merridale of how, in that fateful year, Lenin made his way with German help from exile in Switzerland to Russia. * Financial Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Fills a lacuna in the canonical record of Soviet communism.... A superbly written narrative history that draws together and makes sense of scattered data, anecdotes, and minor episodes, affording us a bigger picture of events that we now understand to be transformative * Kirkus Reviews *Merridale corrects factual errors made by predecessors and opens a fresh interpretive perspective. Personal reenactment of Lenin's eight-day train-and-ferry journey gives force to materials uncovered through assiduous research in newly opened archives as Merridale resolves perplexities long surrounding the political gambles, devious espionage, and shadowy financing that transport Lenin through Germany on a sealed train bound for a land tempestuously shedding its czarist past and desperate for a leader to guide it into an uncharted future. . . . History recovered as living drama * Booklist *A colorful, suspenseful, and well-documented narrative * Publishers Weekly *[This] remarkable account recaptures the idealism that filled this ragtag band of revolutionaries with the desperate belief that their leader would bring a "springtime of hope" to their divided and brutalised country. This is a revealing portrait of Lenin and his fellow travellers at a crucial turning point in world history. -- PD Smith * Guardian *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn their pursuit of social justice, revolutionaries have taken on the assembled might of monarchies, empires, and dictatorships. They have often, though not always, sparked cataclysmic violence, and have at times won miraculous victories, though at other times suffered devastating defeat.This Very Short Introduction illuminates the revolutionaries, their strategies, their successes and failures, and the ways in which revolutions continue to dominate world events and the popular imagination. Starting with the city-states of ancient Greece and Rome, Jack Goldstone traces the development of revolutions through the Renaissance and Reformation, the Enlightenment and liberal constitutional revolutions such as in America, and their opposite--the communist revolutions of the 20th century. He shows how revolutions overturned dictators in Nicaragua and Iran and brought the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and examines the new wave of non-violent color revolutions--the Philippines'' Yellow Revolution, Ukraine''s Orange Revolution--and the Arab Uprisings of 2011-12 that rocked the Middle East.In this new edition, Goldstone also sheds light on the major theories of revolution, exploring the causes of revolutionary waves, the role of revolutionary leaders, the strategies and processes of revolutionary change, and the intersection between revolutions and shifting patterns of global power. Further, he explores the role social media and nonviolence play in modern revolutions. Finally, he examines the reasons for diverse revolutionary outcomes, from democracy to civil war and authoritarian rule, and the likely future of revolution in years to come.Table of ContentsList of illustrations Acknowledgments Chapter 1: What is a revolution? Chapter 2: What causes revolutions? Chapter 3: Revolutionary processes, leadership, and outcomes Chapter 4: Revolutions in the ancient world Chapter 5: Revolutions in the Renaissance and Reformation Chapter 6: Constitutional revolutions: America, France, Europe (1830 and 1848), and Meiji Japan Chapter 7: Communist revolutions: Russia, China, and Cuba Chapter 8: Revolutions against dictators: Mexico, Nicaragua, and Iran Chapter 9: Color revolutions: The Philippines, Eastern Europe and the USSR, and Ukraine Chapter 10: The Arab revolutions of 2011: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria Chapter 11: The future of revolutions References Further reading Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewArrogant, affectionate, and dogmatic, Guevara is intimately revealed in this compilation of personal letters sent over the latter half of his extraordinary life... a thrilling, eyewitness account of battles whose repercussions still reverberate today * Publisher's Weekly *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe French Revolution was a period of radical political and societal change in the eighteenth century. Everyone knows about the guillotine and the grisly processions of tumbrils, but less is generally appreciated about the much greater violence in provincial France. This book examines the beliefs and assumptions about the French Revolution which have become popularised in films and novels but also accepted in standard accounts to see if they stand up to scrutiny. There is no attempt to deny the intense drama of the whole revolutionary period but rather to separate myth and reality. There are chapters on the development of the constitutional monarchy and its failure and also on the tragic period of the Terror which for many is the most characteristic period. The role of women in this period is one of huge turmoil as well as the impact of the Revolution on the French colonies and in particular Saint-Domingue in the West Indies. This book looks at the leading figure in the Haitian Revol

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The unexpected comic masterpiece of the year' Daily MailIn 1967, retired army major and self-made millionaire Paddy Roy Bates inaugurated himself ruler of the Principality of Sealand on a World War II Maunsell Sea Fort near Felixstowe - and began the peculiar story of the world's most stubborn micronation. Having fought off attacks from UK government officials and armed mercenaries for half a century - and thwarted an attempted coup that saw the Prince Regent taken hostage - the self-proclaimed independent nation still stands. It has its own constitution, national flag and anthem, currency, and passports - and offers the esteemed titles of 'Lord' or 'Lady' to its loyal patrons. Incorporating original interviews with surviving members of the principality's royal family, and many rare, vintage photographs, Dylan Taylor-Lehman recounts the outrageous attempt to build a sovereign kingdom by a family of rogue, larger-than-life adventurers on an isolated platform in the freezing waters of the North Sea.Trade ReviewThe unexpected comic masterpiece of the year -- Daily Mail

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe gripping story of the tumultuous destruction of the Irish country house, spanning the revolutionary years of 1912 to 1923

Read more less

Book SynopsisA broad-ranging history of defectors from the Communist world to the West and how their Cold War treatment shaped present-day restrictions on cross-border movement.Defectors fleeing the Soviet Union seized the world''s attention during the Cold War. Their stories were given sensational news coverage and dramatized in spy novels and films. Upon reaching the West, they were entitled to special benefits, including financial assistance and permanent residency. In contrast to other migrants, defectors were pursued by the states they left even as they were eagerly sought by the United States and its allies. Taking part in a risky game that played out across the globe, defectors sought to transcend the limitations of the Cold War world.Defectors follows their treacherous journeys and looks at how their unauthorized flight via land, sea, and air gave shape to a globalized world. It charts a global struggle over defectors that unfolded among rival intelligence agencies operating in the shadows Trade ReviewA nuanced look at deep complications underneath stories of asylum seekers in their journey 'from tyranny to liberty'. * Kirkus *Erik R. Scott's Defectors is a groundbreaking work of Cold War history and a real page-turner. Scott combines excellent storytelling with powerful arguments about migration, sovereignty, borders, and international law. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in Soviet-American relations and their impact on the wider world. * Francine Hirsch, author of Soviet Judgment at Nuremberg: A New History of the International Military Tribunal after World War II *This timely and deeply researched book shows how the historical conception and implementation of 'walls' can help to situate current debates about globalization and population flows. It is a major contribution to our understanding of the human and political dimensions of the first Cold War, showing how the superpowers colluded as well as competed in their efforts to define their borders. * Diane P. Koenker, University College London *Erik Scott deftly incorporates the motives, trajectories, and experiences of Soviet defectors into a subtle analysis of the efforts made by the major state protagonists during the Cold War to manage international migration in the post-World War II era. His carefully researched, illuminating, and intriguing book deserves to be widely read by students of international history. * Peter Gatrell, author of The Unsettling of Europe: How Migration Reshaped a Continent *Zooming in to the case of the Soviet Union, Scott broadens our perspective on the critically important topic of emigration and the efforts to prevent it in the Cold War world. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand more about the haunting effects of defection. * Tara Zahra, author of Against the World: Anti-Globalism and Mass Politics Between the World Wars *Both seasoned Sovietologists and newcomers to Cold War history will find food for thought in this creative reevaluation of the era's geopolitics. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Defectors and the Spaces in Between Part I: Building Borders Chapter 1: From Displacement to Defection Chapter 2: Between Intelligence and Counterintelligence Chapter 3: Socialist Borders in a Global Age Part II: Governing Global Mobility Chapter 4: Soviets Abroad Chapter 5: International Waters Chapter 6: Cold War Airspaces Conclusion: After Defection Notes Sources and Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe definitive account of the superior fighting force that powered the English RevolutionTrade Review“Authoritative and incisive. . . . This is far from just a military history. Gentles, formerly of York University, deals briskly with the key battles and sieges that made, for better or worse, the New Model’s reputation—Naseby, Dunbar, Colchester, Drogheda. . . . Gentles is fascinating too when writing about procurement.”—Paul Lay, Times (UK) “Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army won the decisive battles of the English civil war, overthrew the monarchy in 1649 and sustained the republic until its collapse in 1660. In this expanded version of a study published in 1992, Gentles shows why he is considered the leading authority on the army.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Summer Books of 2022: History” “A thorough study. . . . The author’s mastery of the relevant manuscript and printed primary sources and secondary works is exemplary.”—Edward M. Furgol, Seventeenth-Century News “Explores not just the intricacies and complexities of the army, but also what made it such a formidable battlefield force.”—Military History Matters “This new account shows how powerful the New Model Army was at fighting not just with the sword but also with “The Word.” . . . New insight is given, proving that religion was beating strongly at its heart and that this faith was a force in building morale, military skill and ultimately victory.”—Bruce Kemble-Johnson, Let’s Talk “The purpose of this book is not to provide yet another military history of the wars, but to look beyond the accounts of the fighting, and to consider why the New Model Amy was so formidable on the battlefield, and why it had such an impact on politics and religion off it. Here the author succeeds admirably, delivering an indispensable study that is both insightful and thoroughly readable.”—David Flintham, Military History Matters “A richly detailed and authoritative survey of Parliament’s formidable army formed in 1645 and disbanded at the Restoration.”—Jackie Eales, History Today “Gentles provides a lively and accessible prose, without sacrificing scholarly rigour and analysis. The book will become a standard text for students of the Civil Wars in the Three Kingdoms for decades to come.”— Andrew Hopper, International Journal of Military History and Historiography Shortlisted for the 2023 Military History Matters Book of the Year “Ian Gentles has long been the leading authority on the most important and influential army in English history: and this latest book proves that he still is!”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Making of Oliver Cromwell “Gentles recovers the heart of revolutionary England in this indispensable and definitive landmark book. He masterfully charts the astonishing rise and successes of the New Model Army. Now, in this updated and fresh edition, he provides a view from the inside into the fears, failures, and wider aspirations of the army during its final and most elusive years.”—Polly Ha, associate professor of the history of Christianity, Duke University “Students of the English Revolution, for whom the first edition of The New Model Army has long been required reading, will be thrilled. . . . A tour de force which presents the New Model as a political phenomenon as well as a highly effective military force.”—David Appleby, author of Black Bartholomew’s Day “This is an important and timely reworking of a classic study of the military wrecking ball of the English Revolution. Authoritative yet accessible, the lively narrative guides the reader through a complex and transformative period in the histories of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Henceforth, Gentles’ account will be essential reading for those interested in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.”—Micheál Ó Siochrú, Trinity College Dublin, author of God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow objects associated with the American, French, and Haitian revolutions drew diverse people throughout the Atlantic world into debates over revolutionary idealsTrade Review“By excavating the power of material objects and visual images to express the fervor and fear of the revolutionary era, Ashli White brings us closer to more fully embodied, more fully human, figures.”—Richard Rabinowitz, author of Objects of Love and Regret: A Brooklyn Story“In this important, innovative book, Ashli White moves nimbly between North America, Europe, and the Caribbean to capture the richness and complexity of material culture in the Age of Revolutions.”—Michael Kwass, Johns Hopkins University“Envisioning revolution as the turning of a wheel—a cycling and circulating material thing—rather than as a new beginning offers fresh insights into how times of massive transformation can encompass enduring ways of life. White’s vivid and deeply researched account of the Atlantic Age of Revolutions takes its shape from the contested meanings of objects made, disseminated, and used in ways that show how even the most successful revolts against empires could still leave people firmly within their orbit.”—Vincent Brown, author of Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War“By focusing not on inspirational texts but on the circulation of the material culture of everyday life, Ashli White’s exciting and deeply-researched study makes the Age of Revolutions look all the more intriguing.”—Colin Jones, author of The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon

Read more less

Book SynopsisLonglisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown'A remarkable achievement' SpectatorIn the summer of 1705, a masked woman knocked on the door of a London printer's workshop. She did not leave her name, only a package and the promise of protection. Soon after, an anonymous pamphlet was quietly distributed in the backstreets of the city. Entitled The Memorial of the Church of England, the argument it proposed threatened to topple the government. Fearing insurrection, parliament was in turmoil and government minister Robert Harley launched a hunt for all of those involved. The printer was eventually named, but could not be found... In this breakneck political adventure, Joseph Hone shows us a nation in crisis through the story of a single incendiary document.'An elegant blend of scholarship and detection' Peter Moore, author of Endeavour'Enthralling' London Review of Books'An exciting story told with vigour' Adrian Tinniswood, Literary ReviewTrade ReviewA remarkable achievement...a fast-paced, captivating narrative... Hone demonstrates how uncovering 18th-century working lives can be every bit as enthralling as tracing the machinations of the greatest politicians of the age -- Marcus Nevitt * Spectator *An exciting story told with vigour... A fascinating insight into the world of late Stuart printing... [Hone] manages to combine a lively, almost novelistic narrative style with a confident and scholarly knowledge of his subject -- Adrian Tinniswood * Literary Review *An elegant blend of scholarship and detection that reanimates the dangerous, exciting, clandestine world of Fleet Street at the start of the modern age -- Peter Moore, author of EndeavourA brilliantly original, immersive and thrilling tale told by a fine scholar and storyteller * Jessie Childs, author of God’s Traitors *Enthralling microhistory...provides in Hone's skilled hands the clearest view to date of the murky world of underground printing in late Stuart London -- Tom Keymer * London Review of Books *

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The princes are nothing but tyrants who flay the people; they fritter away our blood and sweat on their pomp and whoring and knavery.' These were the words of Thomas Müntzer at the head of the massed ranks of a peasant army in the year 1525. Ranged against him were the might of the princes of the German Nation. How did Müntzer, the son of a coin maker from central Germany, rise in just a few short years to become one of the most feared revolutionaries in early modern Europe?In this brilliant work of historical excavation, Andrew Drummond charts the life and times of the man Martin Luther denounced as a 'Ravening Wolf' and 'False Prophet'. Drummond shows us Müntzer as a human being. Far from the bloodthirsty devil of legend, he was a man of considerable learning and principle, deeply sympathetic to the misery of the peasantry and the poor. In his short life - he was beheaded at thirty-five - Müntzer promised to fundamentally upend German society.Seeking to save Müntzer from the condescension of history, Drummond guides us through the religious and political disputes of the Reformation, placing his life and thought in the context of those turbulent years. The result is a portrait of an often contradictory but always radical figure, one who continues to inspire movements of the poor across the globe.Trade ReviewAt last - a new account for our times of Thomas Müntzer, theologian and revolutionary. Drummond brings Müntzer and his world vividly to life. He shows us just why Müntzer hated Luther, and how he came to take up arms. What did it mean to be a revolutionary in sixteenth-century Germany? - Drummond shows us. You will be gripped and inspired by this exciting story - I couldn't put it down. -- Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford, and author of Martin Luther: Renegade and ProphetPosterity has endorsed not just Luther's victory but also his determined character assassination of his rival. Andrew Drummond's scholarly but eminently readable, thoughtful, thorough and at times witty biography of Müntzer redresses the balance for English-speaking audiences -- Professor Michael Russell, University of GlasgowAmong the famous figures associated with 16th century Germany, that of religious thinker and social revolutionary Thomas Müntzer deserves to be far better known. Andy Drummond's excellent, brilliantly written and entertaining, new biography delves deep into the archival material to draw out the history of a radical whose life is often obscured by propaganda and myth. As we approach the 500th anniversary of Müntzer's execution, this book is the definitive account of his life. -- Martin Empson, author of 'Kill all the Gentlemen': Class Struggle and Change in the English CountrysideA blisteringly good book about personal enmity, and the difference between revolution and reform. -- Daniel Brooks * Telegraph *Drummond's marvellous romp of a biography - part jolly Simon Winder-like deep dive into 16th-century Germania, part sagacious reflection on the Reformation in the manner of Diarmaid MacCulloch - aims to free Müntzer from his detractors. -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator *Table of ContentsWettin Family Tree Map Acknowledgements Notes on the Text and Some Helpful Remarks1. A Most Useful Lesson An introduction2. The End of the World Historical and religious background to the German Reformation3. The Devil Sowed His Seed Müntzer's early years4. Murder and Riot and Bloodshed Preacher in Zwickau (1520-1521)5. He Ran Away like an Arch-Villain A visit to Prague (1521)6. Satan Wandered in the Wilderness Erfurt, Nordhausen and Halle (1522-1523)7. Satan Made Himself a Nest in Allstedt A fruitful year of activity in Allstedt (1523-1524)8. His Face Was as Yellow as a Corpse's Rebellion in Allstedt (1524)9. Using God's Name, He Spoke and Acted for the Devil Müntzer's theology 10. The Devil Never Let Him Rest Mühlhausen and Nürnberg (1524)11. His Poisonous Seed In south-west Germany at the time of the peasant uprising (1524-1525)12. The Time Was Come The Thuringian uprising (1525)13. Thomas Would Catch All the Bullets in His Sleeves The Battle of Frankenhausen (May 1525)14. How God Punishes Disobedience The aftermath of defeat at Frankenhausen15. Rebellious Violent Preachers The early Anabaptists16. The Devil in Person HistoriographyConclusion Chronology Bibliography Notes Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDraws on a variety of eyewitness accounts, letters, and governmental documents to examine the causes of the Haitian Revolution and the impact it had on the eighteenth-century Atlantic world.Trade Review"Not only the best source-book [on the topic] available in English, but also an excellent model of research and interpretation. Geggus's concise account of the Revolution is clear, efficient, and remarkably free of the usual mythologies, hagiographies, and demonizations, while his excellently selected documents outline the story very well on their own. . . . ideal for students who want to learn how the craft of recording history is practiced." --Madison Smartt Bell, Goucher College"This broad-ranging selection of primary-source documents about the Haitian Revolution, based on David Geggus's unmatched knowledge of the subject, is an important resource for both students and readers already familiar with the topic. Students will learn about the conditions that drove slaves and free people of color to revolt in 1791; even scholars in the field will discover new sources and new perspectives on familiar passages." --Jeremy D. Popkin, University of Kentucky"A phenomenal resource. . . [This book] provides a clear and compelling introductory essay and a wonderful array of revealing documents, many drawn from Geggus's own thorough research in multiple archives in Europe and the Americas." --Ada Ferrer, New York UniversityTable of ContentsCONTENTS (tentative): Introduction; The Freedom of a Christian, including dedicatory preface to Hermann Muhlpfort; Introduction to the Related Documents -- The Reception and Impact of (and Contemporary Reactions to) The Freedom of a Christian; An Open Letter to Pope Leo X (1520); How to Use and Properly Acknowledge Christian Freedom (1524); Letter on Christian Freedom to Thomas Neuenhagen, Preacher at Eisenach (1526); Letter on Christian Freedom to Philipp Gluenspiess of Mansfield (1526); The Long-Term Reception of Luther's Concept: Excerpts from the Church Postils; Annotated Bibliography; Index of Scriptural Citations.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume brings together extracts of the major political writings of Mary Wollstonecraft in the order in which they appeared in the revolutionary 1790s. It traces her passionate and indignant response to the excitement of the early days of the French Revolution and then her uneasiness at its later bloody phase. It reveals her developing understanding of women''s involvement in the political and social life of the nation and her growing awareness of the relationship between politics and economics and between political institutions and the individual.In personal terms, the works show her struggling with a belief in the perfectibility of human nature through rational education, a doctrine that became weaker under the onslaught of her own miserable experience and the revolutionary massacres.Janet Todd''s introduction illuminates the progress of Wollstonecraft''s thought, showing that a reading of all three works allows her to emerge as a more substantial political writer than a study ofTrade Review... this edition does away with the idea of M. W. as Tom Paine in Skirts. Her mind is deepter and richer than his; her transmutation of the turmoil of her experiences during the revolutionary period in France is remarkable. * The Observer *Table of ContentsA Vindication of the Rights of Man ; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman ; An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution

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 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 SynopsisFrom rebels to writers, athletes to astronauts, join Kate Fox takes on an entertaining and eye-opening journey through the lives of these extraordinary women whose lives and achievements have too long been hidden. From Cartimandua, the forgotten Iron Age Queen of the North, to Woodbine-smoking football player Lily Parr, Kate with her trademark wit and sense of fun, shows how these astonishing trailblazers laid the ground for modern stars from Victoria Wood to Little Mix. Nicola Adams, Betty Boothroyd and Helen Sharman all have these unsung northern champions to thank for paving their way.Funny, enlightening and a call to arms, it's perfect for a nation ready to rediscover its hidden heroes.Trade Review‘Kate Fox is funny, quirky and a wonderful writer’ Sarah Millican

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new account of the conquest of Mexico that focuses on the fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs, timed for the 500th anniversary of this world historical event.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Setting Off for the New World Chapter 2: The Expedition Begins Chapter 3: The World of the Mexica Chapter 4: Totonacapan Chapter 5: Tlaxcala Chapter 6: Tenochtitlan Chapter 7: War and Destruction Chapter 8: Endless Conquest Chapter 9: The Legacy of the Conquest Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book provides a succinct yet up-to-date and challenging approach to the French Revolution of 1789-1799 and its consequences. Peter McPhee provides an accessible and reliable overview and one which deliberately introduces students to central debates among historians.The book has two main aims. One aim is to consider the origins and nature of the Revolution of 1789-99. Why was there a Revolution in France in 1789? Why did the Revolution follow its particular course after 1789? When was it ''over''? A second aim is to examine the significance of the Revolutionary period in accelerating the decay of Ancien Regime society. How ''revolutionary'' was the Revolution? Was France fundamentally changed as a result of it?Of particular interest to students will be the emphasis placed by the author on the repercussions of the Revolution on the practives of daily life: the lived experience of the Revolution. The author''s recent work on the environmental impact of the Revolution is also incorporated to provide a lively, modern, and rounded picture of France during this critical phase in the development of modern Europe.Trade ReviewOverall, I think [this book] is one of the best short histories of the Revolution to appear in many years. He is particularly successful in integrating specific case examples and quotations from the period into his general narrative and historiographic analysis and in thus conveying the drama and passion of the Revolution, so often passed over in texts of this kind. It also provides an excellent corrective to many recent "revisionist" texts, reasserting the importance of social dynamics before and during the Revolution and eshewing simplistic explanations of the Terror based solely on ideology or internal politics. Finally, I am impressed by his effective integration of a great deal of new scholarship published during the last decade, notably in his treatment of rural history and the experience of women during the Revolution. In sum, I would strongly recommend the book, and I look forward to trying it out in my own courses. * Timothy Tackett, University of California *Peter McPhee's history of the French Revolution is a real tour de force. More successfully than any other general history of the period, it combines an admirably clear narrative of this complex decade with an intelligent survey and analysis of other historians' perspectives. Beside them, McPhee sets out his own understandings of the Revolution sensibly and undogmatically so that readers can judge their merits. Beyond these strengths, the book is enriched by illuminating discussions of the effects of the Revolution on everyday lives of women and men and by a refreshing attention to rural France - the home of the great majority of French people at the time. Written in a lively and engaging way, this book cannot but draw readers more deeply into one of the most fascinating periods in world history. * Roderick Phillips, Carleton University *With an easy style and a clear purpose, Professor Peter McPhee pilots students past key questions of the origin and course, meaning and significance of the French Revolution. Touching most debates in the historiography, McPhee's history still offers a sound narrative of revolutionary events, egos and enactments, always in chapters of manageable length, always with an eye to evidence that's first-hand, fascinating and fresh. Scores of students and teachers will owe him a debt of thanks. * Adrian Jones, La Trobe University *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. France in the 1780s ; 2. The Crisis of the Old Regime ; 3. The Revolution of 1789 ; 4. The Reconstruction of France, 1789-91 ; 5. A Second Revolution, 1792 ; 6. The Revolution in the Balance, 1793 ; 7. The Terror: revolutionary Defence or Paranoia? ; 8. Ending the Revolution, 1795-9 ; 9. The Significance of the Revolution ; Maps ; Appendix 1: Chronology ; Appendix 2: The Revolutionary Calendar ; A Guide to Further Reading

Read more less

Book SynopsisA provocative history of Ulysses and the Easter Rising as harbingers of decolonization. When revolutionaries seized Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising, they looked back to unrequited pasts to point the way toward radical futurestransforming the Celtic Twilight into the electric light of modern Dublin in James Joyce's Ulysses. For Luke Gibbons, the short-lived rebellion converted the Irish renaissance into the beginning of a global decolonial movement. James Joyce and the Irish Revolution maps connections between modernists and radicals, tracing not only Joyce's projection of Ireland onto the world stage, but also how revolutionary leaders like Ernie O'Malley turned to Ulyssesto make sense of their shattered worlds. Coinciding with the centenary of both Ulysses and Irish independence, this book challenges received narratives about the rebellion and the novel that left Ireland changed, changed utterly.Trade Review“An important development in the understanding of the Irish relationship to Joyce’s work – and of his relationship to his native country. . . . For this superb, transformative undertaking the author deserves our gratitude.” * Dublin Review of Books *“The Easter Rising, far from being consigned to nostalgia, is seen as a catalyst for global processes of decolonization . . . [Gibbons’s] tracing of connections and influences—real, virtual, and suggestive—between revolution in the street and in the word results in richly layered and sometimes erudite chapters that repay close reading . . [and] open up many fascinating paths.” * Irish Times *"One of Ireland’s most profound if idiosyncratic cultural critics, Luke Gibbons, seeks to bring these two revolutions into the same framework in his important new work, James Joyce and the Irish Revolution: The Easter Rising as Modern Event. Through a series of engrossing vignettes drawn from a wide array of contemporary sources, he positions Joyce’s 'revolution of the word' under the light emitted by the 1916 Easter Rising and sets out to 'reclaim what was radical in the Irish revolution for a modernist project akin to that of Joyce’s.'" * Jacobin *“The interest key figures in the Rising and the subsequent War of Independence (1919–21) showed in Joyce’s work and its revolutionary potential is . . . compelling. For example, Gibbons shines a light on the Irish revolutionary leader Ernie O’Malley, who devoted considerable attention to Joyce . . . [Gibbons’s] case is unassailable. Political radicalism and radical art call one another to arms.” * Times Literary Supplement *“This is a study deserving of an audience beyond the confines of Irish literary criticism. Underscoring the electrifying analysis is the hard evidence of patient scholarship and profound insight that makes this book one of the most original interventions to appear during the Decade of Centenaries.” * History Ireland *“Gibbons examines how the aesthetic innovations in James Joyce’s Ulysses reflect the political turmoil of Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising and subsequent War of Independence . . . with some eye-opening insights.” * Publishers Weekly *"This book is a ground-breaking and original addition to the decade of centenaries. Luke Gibbons’ familiarity with the ‘underworld’ figures of the anti-Treatyites and supporters, who understood Ulysses because of their lived experience, extends our understanding of the more commonly reported Free Staters’ refusal of Ulysses, mainly on moral censorship grounds. Replete with a superb index and 56 pages of exemplary footnotes, a study in themselves, it is a generous book. It is a work that manages to yoke modernist literary expression with a broad array of transnational political effects." * Australasian Journal of Irish Studies *“Gibbons may well be Ireland’s most brilliant literary and cultural critic: a distinctive voice and a decisive eye. Here, as always, Gibbons’s commentary ebbs around observed details with a verve worthy of Benjamin, as he makes clear not only that Joyce’s work was revolutionary but also that it was recognized as such by some of the revolutionaries themselves. This is an immensely rich and suggestive work, an instant classic of Irish literary criticism." -- Enda Duffy, University of California, Santa Barbara"This book positively bristles with intelligence and erudition. Gibbons reads Ulysses and the Easter Rising as compelling instances of an alliance between political radicalism and formal/technical innovation. At the same time, he decisively rewrites our understanding of Ulysses’s reception history, demonstrating that many of Joyce’s first interpreters saw his literary experiments as direct engagements with Ireland’s turbulent political history.” -- Marjorie Howes, Boston College“In this pioneering investigation, Gibbons has convincingly reinterpreted the Easter Rising as a global and modernizing event. His Joycean cast of characters—artists, freedom fighters, and a surprising number who were both—highlights the cultural aspects of the 1916 Rising in a new modernist and international vein.” -- Mary E. Daly, University College DublinTable of ContentsList of Figures Preface Abbreviations Introduction: James Joyce and the Irish Revolution 1. “Old Haunts”: Photographic Memory, Motion, and the Republic of Letters 2. Modern Epic and Revolution: Montage in the Margins 3. “A World That Ran Through Things”: Ulysses, the Easter Rising, and Spatial Form 4. The Easter Rising as Modern Event: Media, Technology, and Terror 5. “Paving Over the Abyss”: Ireland, War, and Literary Modernism 6. “Through the Eyes of Another Race”: Ulysses, Roger Casement, and the Politics of Humanitarianism 7. Transatlantic “Usable Pasts”: America, Literary Modernism, and the Irish Revolution 8. On Another Man’s Text: Ernie O’Malley, Politics, and Irish Modernism 9. Beyond Disillusionment: Desmond Ryan, Ulysses, and the Irish Revolution Acknowledgments Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor many the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a symbol of hope. In the eyes of its critics, however, Soviet authoritarianism and the horrors of the gulags have led to the revolution becoming synonymous with oppression, threatening to forever taint the very idea of socialism.The experience of Georgia, which declared its independence from Russia in 1918, tells a different story. In this riveting history, Eric Lee explores the little-known saga of the country's experiment in democratic socialism, detailing the epic, turbulent events of this forgotten chapter in revolutionary history. Along the way, we are introduced to a remarkable cast of characters among them the men and women who strove for a more inclusive vision of socialism that featured multi-party elections, freedom of speech and assembly, a free press and a civil society grounded in trade unions and cooperatives. Though the Georgian Democratic Republic lasted for just three years before it was brutally crushed on the orTrade ReviewA well-researched, well-written and engaging account … a welcome and necessary addition to the literature.' * European History Quarterly *This is an important book. It is the first study in English of the Menshevik government in Georgia between 1918 and 1921. * Chartist *Lee provides a fascinating account of what the country briefly looked like under Menshvik rule and how this compared to the regime established by Georgia’s most famous son, Stalin. * Europe Now *As Lee reminds us, this Menshevik-dominated government backed free elections, freedom of the press, an independent judiciary, parliamentary rule and free trade unions. Perhaps its most impressive achievement was to carry out agrarian reform, allowing peasants to buy land at reasonable prices and not resorting to the catastrophic forced collectivization the Bolsheviks later employed. Visiting Georgia, a Western socialist like Karl Kautsky could declare it the "antithesis to Bolshevism." * New York Times *Lee's gripping, well-researched Operation Basalt shines a bright light on a tiny, yet important, corner of World War II ...exciting and illuminating * Praise for Eric Lee’s previous book Operation Basalt, Tampa Bay Times *Riveting * Praise for Eric Lee’s previous book Operation Basalt, Wall Street Journal *An authentic and compelling read * Praise for Eric Lee’s previous book Operation Basalt, Damien Lewis, best-selling author of The Nazi Hunters and Churchill's Secret Warriors *A sympathetic, lucidly written and politically literate account of the first Georgian Republic, which makes exhaustive use of the accounts of foreign observers as well as some of the major leading figures. * Donald Rayfield, author of Stalin and His Hangmen *Covering a crucial but strangely overlooked period in the fevered evolution of socialism, we’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. Fortunately, it arrives excellently written and researched. * Peter Nasmyth, author of Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry *In a clear and succinct style, Eric Lee paints a sympathetic portrait of this remarkable experiment in democratic socialism. Lee has brought this almost unknown story out of the shadows, giving it its proper place in the historiography of socialism and the Russian Revolution. * Stephen Jones, author of Socialism in Georgian Colors *Table of ContentsTimeline Preface Prologue 1. Founding Father 2. Dress Rehearsal 3. The Experiment Begins 4. The Turn towards Germany 5. At War With Armenia 6. The British Take Charge 7. Georgia's Agrarian Revolution 8. The Independence of the Trade Unions 9. The Rise and Rise of the Cooperatives 10. Achilles' Heel: Georgia's National Minorities 11. Fifth Column 12. Europe's Socialist Leaders Come for a Visit 13. The State That Never Was 14. The Experiment Ends 15. The Final Battle 16. Another Revolution Was Possible

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book, the author explores how a network of spies spread out across the England, Scotland and Ireland to further the aims of the landings. Written by an acknowledged expert on the era.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR'Chillingly original' Max Hastings'A vivid and sparkling account, full of colour and dark drama' Observer'Brilliantly depicts a disastrous failure' Antony Beevor'Witty and elegant . . . Excellent background to today's events' Anne Applebaum'Britain's most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered' Simon Jenkins'Vivid and remarkably timely' Martin Sixsmith From the bestselling author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of UkraineThe extraordinary story of how the West tried to reverse the Russian Revolution. In the closing months of the First World War, Britain, America, France and Japan sent arms and 180,000 soldiers to Russia, with the aim of tipping the balance in her post-revolutionary Civil War. From Central Asia to the Arctic and from Poland to the Pacific, they joined anti-Bolshevik forces in trying to overthrow the new men in the Kremlin, in an astonishingly ambitious military adventure known as the Intervention.Fresh, in the case of the British, from the trenches, they found themselves in a mobile, multi-sided conflict as different as possible from the grim stasis of the Western Front. Criss-crossing the shattered Russian empire in trains, sleds and paddlesteamers, they bivouacked in snowbound cabins and Kirghiz yurts, torpedoed Red battleships from speedboats, improvised new currencies and the world's first air-dropped chemical weapons, got caught up in mass retreats and a typhus epidemic, organised several coups and at least one assassination. Taking tea with warlords and princesses, they also turned a blind eye to their Russian allies' numerous atrocities.Two years later they left again, filing glumly back onto their troopships as port after port fell to the Red Army. Later, American veterans compared the humiliation to Vietnam, and the politicians and generals responsible preferred to trivialise or forget. Drawing on previously unused diaries, letters and memoirs, A Nasty Little War brings an episode with echoes down the century since vividly to life.Trade ReviewReid brilliantly depicts the disastrous failure of our intervention in the "Russian" civil war. The atmosphere, the characters, the absurdity are all there -- Antony BeevorIn witty, elegant prose, Anna Reid uncovers the true story of the West's failed and forgotten attempt to reverse the Bolshevik revolution. Excellent background to today's events -- Anne ApplebaumBritain's most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered -- Simon JenkinsReid brings this little-known period thrillingly back to life . . . A vivid and sparkling account, full of colour and dark drama -- The ObserverChillingly original -- Max Hastings, 'Pick of the Week', The TimesElegantly written, and drawing on extensive archival research . . . This remarkable book is simultaneously comic and horrifying -- BBC History Magazine, Books of the YearUnusually entertaining -- London Review of Books

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 SynopsisBorn in Cloughjordan in Co. Tipperary, MacDonagh was a poet and playwright, an educator and political activist. Appointed to the IRB Military Council he became a member of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic and was a signatory of the 1916 Easter proclamation. During the Rising MacDonagh was commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers and occupied the Jacobs Biscuit factory garrison. Following an inspiring speech at his Court Marshal he was executed on 3 May 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin. In this meticulously researched biography Shane Kenna places this remarkable man within the great pantheon of Irish Republican heroes. He provides a riveting reconstruction of the life of a man whose death played such a key part in the shaping of modern Ireland. 'an epic new series of books' - RTE Guide on 16LivesTrade ReviewKenna has a gift for finding the right quotation to make his point -- tintean.orgThis series of sympathetic biographies attempts to show the day-to-day lives of the rebel leaders and the Ireland in which they lived … These two biographies are valuable additions to the historiography of the Rising and revolution, especially in highlight the diverging ambitions, desires and visions of the men who organised it -- Dublin Review of Books

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Galvanises us to notice and care about our glorious natural world, through the words of an army of poets, ancient and modern’ – Bel Mooney An anthology of poems to enter the bloodstream and rewild the spirit. As with all life on Earth, the climate emergency, species extinction, ecological disaster, global pandemics, economic collapse, war, genocide and social injustice are all interconnected — how do we face our fears? How do we find the courage to rebel against forces ranged against the Earth? This galvanising collection of poems spans 4,000 years of human history. Ranging from Nikolai Duffy's 'Against Metaphor' and Lord Byron's 'Darkness' to Allen Ginsberg's evocative 'Sunflower Sutra' and Jean 'Binta' Breeze's 'Tweet Tweet'. This book is not just a sanctuary in which to find solace from environmental grief but a manual for psychic resistance in the war against Nature. As Pablo Neruda said, 'Poetry is rebellion.'Trade Review'This anthology is part manifesto for change, part elegy for a burning house, part summoning of an 'inner wild'. But it's also a book of timeless, irrepressible, rebel song. Jean Binta Breeze sings to William Blake, Selima Hill sings to Theodore Roethke and Nan Shepherd. Each song echoes, each chimes. As Paul Evans says in his introduction 'poetry is a quality of language as wild is a quality of nature'. Poetry Rebellion is essential.' * Helen Mort *‘Galvanises us to notice and care about our glorious natural world, through the words of an army of poets, ancient and modern’ -- Bel Mooney, Daily Mail

Read more less

Book SynopsisEdward Waverley, a young English soldier, is caught up in the Jacobite rising of 1745-6, the last civil war fought on British soil and the attempt to reinstate the Stuart monarchy. With Waverley Scott invented the modern historical novel and profoundly influenced the development of European and American fiction for a century at least.Trade ReviewThere are all sorts of good reasons to read Waverley; it's important, influential, deals with issues of identity and political loyalty which are most certainly still relevant, is interesting to read against the current political situation in Scotland too, but much more than that its also enjoyable. * Shiny New Books, Hayley Anderton *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''This is a very personal book, about being alone and lost''. In 1975 Kapuscinski''s employers sent him to Angola to cover the civil war that had broken out after independence. For months he watched as Luanda and then the rest of the country collapsed into a civil war that was in the author''s words ''sloppy, dogged and cruel''. In his account, Kapuscinski demonstrates an extraordinary capacity to describe and to explain the individual meaning of grand political abstractions.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Romanian Revolution of 1989 was the most spectacularly violent and remains today the most controversial of all the East European upheavals of that year. Despite (or perhaps because of) the media attention the revolution received, it remains...Trade Review"Siani-Davies has reconstructed the rush of events during these three revolutionary weeks literally hour by hour. The effect is to draw the reader in as if he or she were there, while at the same time soaring above and viewing the overall flow and structure of a revolution. In short, Siani-Davies has done more than provide an exceedingly fine-grained account of the overthrow of the Ceausescu regime; he has given students of revolution an example with all the inner mechanics exposed."—Foreign Affairs, September/October 2005"Among the Communist governments in eastern Europe that collapsed, nowhere was the overthrow as violent and blood as in the Romanian revolution of 1989, which cost more than 1,000 lives. Peter Siani-Davies, utilizing a wide variety of Romanian sources, has written a detailed history of the revolution that brought the overthrow of the Communist government in Romania and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day, 1989."—Keith Eubank, The Virginia Quarterly Review"Here is a remarkable portal to a crossroad in contemporary politics for Romanian aficionados and Cold War history buffs. Peter Siani-Davies touches western and southern urban locales in focusing on the immediate background and aftermath of Nicolae Ceausescu's overthrow. He critically assesses evidence gleaned from Romanian newspapers and offers probabilities and possibilities for matters still awaiting the disclosure of primary records."—Frederick Kellogg, Slavic Review, Summer 2006"Splendidly researched and compellingly argued, this book is an original and persuasive contribution to our understanding of the collapse of Ceausescu's dictatorship, the December 1989 revolutionary upheaval, and the difficult birth of democracy in Romania. It is mandatory reading for all those interested in a luminously sophisticated approach to the myths and realities of the Romanian Revolution."—Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland, author of Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism"Finally, a near-definitive account of how Ceausescu fell! This fascinating book shows that this was indeed a classic revolution. It was violent, mass based, and it deeply transformed Romania. Peter Siani-Davies has made a valuable addition to the analytic literature on mass political movements. Impeccably documented and reasoned, his book will provide comparative students of revolution enormous amounts of material. We rarely get such detailed accounts of how various leaders, factions, and ordinary people are swept up in chaotic circumstances they often do not quite understand. In Romania, the outcome was deliverance from a stultifying tyranny, but this study makes it clear that chance and human errors play a role in determining outcomes, though underlying structural and historical factors ultimately count even more."—Daniel Chirot, Senior Fellow, United States Institute of Peace

Read more less

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