Reviews (2)

Sometimes academic rigour is what's needed
This two-volume history of the Mexican Revolution is absolutely packed with case studies and individual narratives. Knight's vision is one of many and various Mexicos, all of which experienced a different revolution. Far from being simply to entertain, the role of a history text is to explain what happened. Knight puts forward a strong, if not universally accepted, case for the dismissal of grand theories of a single process, instead arguing that the revolution meant one thing to the generals of the north, quite another to the peasants of the centre, and very little to (for example) the Indians of the south. The reader may feel confused by the book; there is nothing wrong with such an outcome - it was a confusing period of history during which few people knew what was happening and with what likely effect.

Random musings
This book totally defies history's number one precept which is to entertain. Knight follows a random course through the Mexican Revolution digressing into such inane topics as the difference between a revolution and rebellion, or the difference between social and criminal banditry. Furthermore, he bogs down in trying to classify the different parts of the revolution as revolutionary or counterrevolutionary basically coming to the conclusion that the revolution was caudillismo on a grand scale where ideologies are overwhelmed by personal vendettas and disagreements between pueblos that go back to antiquity.Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History: American    4. Latin America - Mexico    5. Mexico    6. Mexico - History    7. Revolution, 1910-1920    8. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    9. American history: from c 1900 -    10. Revolutions & coups   

Subjects:  1. Government - International    2. History    3. History: World    4. Middle East - General    5. Political Process - Political Parties    6. Politics / Current Events    7. History / Middle East    8. Palestine    9. Revolutions & coups    10. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle   

Editorial Review

The Weather Underground was a small band of no more than a few hundred radicals, yet the fringe group was widely feared and revered as notorious bombers and violent revolutionaries. In Read more

Reviews (11)

Those Wacky Leftists
This short book attempts to outline the rise and fall of the Weatherman Organization. Weather, as it came to be known, was an offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). When the SDS fragmented in the late 1960's, Weather became its best known survivor. Weather quickly went "underground" and engaged in a series of bombings that stretched well into the 1970's. Probably the most recognizable event in the history of Weather was the explosion that occurred in a townhouse in New York in 1970, when three members died while constructing bombs. The group bombed the United States Capitol building, banks, police stations and other "symbols" of what they deemed the imperialist-capitalist system. Most members of the Weather group eventually were arrested and sentenced to prison (unfortunately brief) terms. The last action concerning Weather was an armored car robbery in 1981 in New York. A rehash of old sources; unanalytical
Many of the issues discussed are framed in a rather negative and unanalytical context.While I agree that mistakes were made and lots of weird things happened, the author's recounting does little to help one figure out why things happened the way they did, in the context of the times. Fast and loose with the facts
Useful for the bibliography and notes, but little else. Chock-full of inaccuracies and questionable interpretation, as Mr. Lippman pointed out below. A few examples: "[Bill Ayers] met Diana Oughton later that school year [1965], and together they began working at the Children's Community School." (p. 203). Ayers' "Fugitive Days": "In my second year at the Children's Community, Diana Oughton...arrived to volunteer at our school." (p. 91). The cover photograph of Bernardine Dohrn and Brian Flanagan is reversed from its printing on p. 63. When easily verifiable factual errors are made, one must question statements of a more interpretive nature. Marcuse is "a controversial Marxist philosopher and professor at San Jose State" (p. 5). This is a less than useful description of "One Dimensional Man"'s author, and contributes nothing to our understanding of his place in the intellectual climate of the time. I think most telling are Jacobs' acknowledgements. He thanks library staff for their help in helping him assemble material, throws off an "[A]lso, acknowledgements are extended to Roger Lippman, ... as well as various activists whose insights and conversation helped to shape my approach to this book." Jacobs then thanks his housemates, put on a par with ex-Weatherpeople. Jacobs is offering his less than well informed review of already published material. There is no indication he went to any effort to discuss the Weather Underground with the major actors he writes about. This might be a worthy masters thesis at a second-rate college, but is not the sort of thing you would get from a professional historian. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History & Theory - Radical Thought    2. History - General History    3. History - U.S.    4. Liberalism    5. New Left    6. Political Process - General    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. United States    10. United States - 20th Century/60s    11. Weather Underground Organizati    12. Weather Underground Organization    13. Demonstrations & protest movements    14. Revolutions & coups    15. Social history    16. USA    17. c 1960 to c 1970    18. c 1970 to c 1980    19. c 1980 to c 1990   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Developing countries    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Insurgency    6. Revolutionary    7. Revolutions    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. Third World Development    12. Violence in Society    13. Social Science / Sociology / General    14. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Asian    2. China    3. Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976    4. England    5. Exhibitions    6. General    7. History    8. History - General History    9. London    10. Political posters    11. Political posters, Chinese    12. Popular Culture - General    13. Posters    14. Religion    15. Revolutionary    16. Graphic design    17. Poster art    18. Propaganda    19. Social Science / Ethnic Studies   

Reviews (6)

Good but False
I unfortunatly have to say that this books eyewitness accounts may be false. My gradparents took part in this revolution and know this man. He is an excellent writer i must say but sometimes uses to much falseties. Many times he puts himself in other people shoes to make a great book. I must say this is a good book but is not entirely true.

If you realize it's one-sided, it's good enough
If within the US a working class person could easily find a number of perspectives on this event, I would say this is not a bad contribution to the panorama of views one could read on the topic.Unfortunately, if one goes to the local bookstore and/or library, this sort of text is the only type of thing one can find on the events in Hungary of 1956.Only one perspective on this event is allowed, not even one book sympathetic to Kadar is allowed among the multitude condemning him, the AVH and the USSR, all must condemn them - but remember, they're the ones with a party line and commissars, not us.
Street fighting men (and women) in 1956
Liptak's memoir compares favorably with Sandor Kopacsi's "In the Name of the Working Class." SK explains his role as the Budapest deputy chief of police who switched sides and aided the rebels; BL offers the view from a student leader's encounters on the pavement below the offices where SK and his counterparts worked to advance the aims of 1956. While SK insists that the revolt was for a purer, worker-dominated type of communism (perhaps akin to an anarcho-syndicalist model) free of Soviet imperialism, this argument dims in BL's account. He gives the points that the students and workers distributed and proclaimed, but the whole question of how the Hungarians' new state would contrast with both the capitalist and the communist systems appears rather muddled in his narrative. Maybe such nuanced planning could not be taken in the heat of the moment, as the Hungarians struggled in a few days to drive out the Soviets.Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Eastern Europe - History    3. Europe - Austria & Hungary    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: World    7. Hungary    8. Military    9. Military - Other    10. Personal narratives    11. Rebellion And Insurgency    12. Revolution, 1956    13. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    14. International relations    15. Revolutions & coups    16. Russia    17. c 1945 to c 1960   

Reviews (24)

excellent guide to understanding the Russian Revolution
This book is Richard Pipes own consolidation and abridgement of his two masterworks, "Russian Revolution" (1990) and "Russia under the Bolshevik Regime" (1994). The two volumes total 1,300 pages supported by 4,500 references.
Like it was
I am not an expert but have read a fair amount about the Russian Revolution and Stalinism. This history by Pipes lays responsibility exactly where I think it belongs. There were many issues in this complex mix of cultures, motives, challenges and histories. I do believe that the root cause of the horrendous cruelty Russians inflicted on themselves was hatred and power and I think this one the ideas in this book. Mayber this is simplistic of me but there is no evidence in the history of the period and its people that love of Russia or the well-being of its people was ever considered by Lenin or Trotsky. I think that it's great that Pipes lays this bare using historical facts. Even if Pipes is biased against them, the results of the Russian revolution speak for themselves --- a destroyed economy built on a holocaust of slave labor and the psychic destruction of a people, especially the Russian man.
A compelling short history
This book is an abridged version of two much longer books Pipes has written (RUSSIA UNDER THE OLD REGIME and RUSSIA UNDER THE BOLSHEVIK REGIME). And it feels abridged. On many topics, I wanted more details, and there was a lack of endnotes. However, the details and VERY extensive endnotes are found in the extended volumes. It was written in a very matter-of-fact manner, without much narrative flair.
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Subjects:  1. 1917-1921, Revolution    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Nicholas II, 1894-1917    7. Revolution, 1917-1921    8. Russia    9. Soviet Union    10. European history: from c 1900 -    11. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    12. Revolutions & coups   

Reviews (1)

The Infant US Politics & Foreign Affairs- A Grand Survey
This short, articulate survey of the the newborn United States' issues with the St. Domingue (the putative Haiti) touches on virtually everything: The French Revolution; the Louisiana Purchase, the early Federal-state struggles in the United States; the founding fathers' ambivalence about the institution of slavery; the often overriding role of the private sector in American diplomacy , Caribbean piracy in the 18th and early 19th century. All of this and more seen through the lens of the Haitian slave revolt and the vagaries of the historic changes in French (and western) society engendered by the French revolution.A great read that makes one hunger for more of all the issues discussed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1743?-1803    2. 1789-1809    3. Caribbean & West Indies - General    4. Foreign relations    5. Haiti    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: American    9. International Relations - Diplomacy    10. Revolutionary    11. Toussaint Louverture,    12. United States    13. United States - 19th Century    14. United States - Revolutionary War   

Reviews (2)

Very readable and comprehensive
A very well- rounded introduction to a period of British history that should be better known. The author strikes a good balance between the political narrative and his coverage of the social, economic, cultural, and military developments of the age. This book should be accessible to anyone with a serious interest in this period in European history.

A Great Power Emerges
Writes Professor Roger Hainsworth, formerly of Adelaide University, South Australia:Students of English history will welcome this new volume in the New Oxford History of England series.1689-1727 is a very significant period for the history of the British people and indeed it proved important to many European people also for this reason: during it Britain became a great power and in the process the growing hegemony of France over western Europe was first confronted, fought against and finally halted. More of this later. Dr. Hoppit, although his eye is undimmed by romantic illusions about past eras, has a positive tale to tell. He writes that in late seventeen and early eighteenth century England "political discord was contained and then undermined. Warfare was endured and survived. Britain's empire was extended and its value increased. Population began slowly to grow. Many towns flourished. Agriculture, industry and commerce all showed signs of expansion .... society was not stagnant, it was on the move." This favourable assessment might have astonished contemporaries both at home and abroad. They still perceived England as politically unstable, riven by party ("faction"), and menaced by the apparently unbridgeable dynastic dispute between the Jacobite supporters of the exiled James II and then of his son (the Old Pretender) and the Whig and Orange Tory supporters of William III, Anne and the Protestant Succession (the Hanoverians). Meanwhile the British state was menaced by growing poor rates, menacing numbers of unemployed, seemingly endless foreign wars, and a growing mountain of debt: all presided over by a government which appeared more powerful and uncheckable every year and was backed by that worst of all English nightmares: a permanent army. Dr. Hoppit explores these fears and traumas incisively and expertly and makes it clearer than it perhaps has ever been made before why the positive developments prevailed and the worst fears ebbed away. The fundamental problem for historians of the period is to explain how England become a great power during the reigns of William III and Anne. Cromwell's disciplined army and a powerful navy had made England a great power fleetingly during the 1650s. However, there was no way to finance these prodigies on a long term basis. The restored Charles II almost went broke disbanding these extravagant instruments of power. England's resurgence in the two decades following the Glorious Revolution of 1689 astonished foreign observers who had believed, reasonably enough, that England's small population doomed it to the side-lines of European politics. In a long contest between Britain and France surely there could be only one result? England with Wales had only about 5.25 million in 1700. Scotland had 1.23 million and Ireland about 2 million. France, the most populous country in Europe (including Russia) had 22 million. These bare statistics proved deceptive. Although eighty per cent of England's population were rural dwellers, almost thirty per cent of the population were engaged in some form of industry. Manchester was then only a large village but Defoe estimated it provided "outside" employment to 40,000 weavers and allied trades. In fact England was the most urbanised country in Europe and if this was partly because ten per cent of the people lived in London her urbanisation was to increase hugely during the eighteenth century while London's population stagnated.Industrial strength and a powerful navy were gradually joined by a formidable army. During Anne's reign it would be led by one of history's greatest commanders who was also a remarkable diplomat and builder of alliances: the Duke of Marlborough. The financial problems of the mid seventeenth century were resolved by taxation passed freely if grumpily by the House of Commons which had now become a permanent institution of state rather than an irregular occurrence. The taxes funded that unusual novelty the National Debt which was partly managed by an enlarged Treasury assisted by an inspired creation, the Bank of England. The two great European wars of the period weakened the Continental powers, especially France, but left Britain stronger than when she entered them. Many speculated about this paradox but no great power seemed able to copy the method even supposing they understood it. All these matters receive due attention in this volume. So also does a range of other important topics: the remarkable growth of parliamentary government which in time would make possible the political peace of Sir Robert Walpole's long prime ministership during the 1720s; the decline into impotence of the Jacobites; the astonishing efflorescence of a print culture of books, newspapers and pamphlets; the slow decline of the Anglican hegemony in the face of stubborn Dissenters and ideas of religious tolerance; the extraordinarily rich burst of public and private building ranging fromWren's St Paul's to Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor's masterpieces (Castle Howard and Blenheim the best known of many); and the steady advance of pragmatic, experimental science. This last owed much to one man and in a fine passage Hoppit writes that the year his period ends is better defined not by the death of George I but by the death aged 84 of one of his subjects. Interred like a prince in Westminster Abbey with the Lord Chancellor, two dukes and three earls among his pall-bearers, he was Sir Isaac Newton. That indeed was the end of an era. This is a worthy addition to a very collectable series. There are the minor flaws often found when the author has to shoehorn a complex discourse into a confined space. Stylistic faults occasionally jar and infelicities of sentence structure ("there were those (such as Locke had done) who strongly argued ...") often require the reader to turn back to disentangle the sense. However, Dr. Hoppit's text is informative, interesting, thought-provoking and engrossing. He has explored the diverse facets of his subject with care and sensitivity to their nuances. All students of this significant period will be in his debt for decades to come. Had it been put in my hands when I was studying this period as an undergraduate I would have gnawed on it like a famished wolf. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anne, 1702-1714    2. Europe - Great Britain - General    3. General    4. George I, 1714-1727    5. Great Britain    6. History    7. History: World    8. Politics / Current Events    9. William and Mary, 1689-1702    10. World - General    11. British & Irish history: c 1500 to c 1700    12. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    13. England    14. History / Great Britain    15. History, World | British | 17th C    16. Revolutions & coups    17. United Kingdom, Great Britain    18. c 1600 to c 1700    19. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (7)

This is THE book on the Black Panthers!
Interested in the original Black Panthers? Read books on them? Seen a movie? Heard the hype? Well now is the time to read for yourself the ACTUAL WORDS of those who lead the movement. Familiarize yourself with the ideology of the organization and it's goals and objectives. Review the speeches of Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldrige Cleaver and others. This book will give the reader an insightful view into the true workings and mindset of the Panthers...without the bias hype, or romanticizing of the organization. I highly recommend it.

Excellent Documentary of the Black Panthers
The Black Panthers Speak is a collection of speeches, sayings, drawings, poems, and other writings that were created by members ofthe Black Panther party. The Black Panthers were groups of black men and women who fought without guns and knives, but with their mouths for freedom for blacks around America. This book tells what the Black Panthers fought for and how they rose up against America. Read about this influential org. for yourself
Often we are mislead as to what the black panther party was, or what they stood for.This book will enlighten the readerabout the BPP.All of the material was written by BPP members.It comes from interviews from members, BPP newspaper articles, trials, etc.Therefore, there is absolutely no [false] material put forth by someone with a political agenda to discredit the BPP.If you ask any random person what they think of the BPP they will often remark that they are racists, or extremists.This is due to the fact that the media, schools, and state have constantly discredited the BPP, and slandered the black nationalist movement.Read their ideas for yourself, and you make the decision for yourself about the BPP.Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    2. General    3. History - General History    4. Sociology    5. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    6. Black studies    7. Demonstrations & protest movements    8. Revolutions & coups    9. Social history    10. USA   

Subjects:  1. 1959-    2. 20th century    3. Caribbean & West Indies - Cuba    4. Causes    5. Cuba    6. Foreign relations    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    11. Politics and government    12. Revolution, 1959    13. Revolutionary    14. United States    15. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    16. Fulgencio Batista; Fidel Castro; Jose Marti; New Left; Cuban Revolution; Cuban Communism; Cuban Populism; Cuban Bonapartism; Nikita Khrushchev; USSR; Che Guevara    17. History / Caribbean & West Indies / Cuba    18. Revolutions & coups    19. c 1945 to c 1960   

Reviews (3)

For Specialists only!
This is one of those books which perhaps has influence in academic understanding of a region, people, or issue, but probably shouldn't be picked up by the general public: the subject is way to obscure, the presentation too esoteric, for the average reader to follow what's going on. The result is a fascinating book that looks at an obscure incident in the Arab past which has an influence on modern events, but does so in such a fashion that it's probably only for those who have a good working knowledge of the region already.
Important for understanding the origins of Arab Nationalism
The Great Syrian Revolt was a "seminal" and "heroic episode in the colonial history of Syria" marking the rise of Arab nationalism in the Middle East (14) . Although the Revolt has received much scholarly attention, almost all studies (with the exceptions of Philip Khoury and Hanna Batatu) have concentrated on urban nationalism espoused by an elite group of nobles and intellectuals (19). This is because scholars themselves are members of an urban elite and consequently, "focus their attention on people that they can identify with and relate to" (19). Moreover, many Syrian scholars happen to be members of notable families and interpret history "as the story of the scions of a dozen Damascus families" (8). Thus, there have been no studies tracing the relationships between the rural and urban regions of Syria during the French Mandate, or on their influence on nationalist politics. It is this void that Michael Provence seeks to fill in his groundbreaking The Great Syrian Revolt.
The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism.
An understanding of the late Ottoman period, the First World War, and the War's aftermath is essential to understanding the modern Middle East. This is a good, accessable step in that direction. It should be mentioned that there were also revolts in the same general time frame against a similar British occupation in Iraq. And the informed reader will also see parallels with the present conflict in Iraq.
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Subjects:  1. French    2. History    3. History - General History    4. Insurrection, 1925-1927    5. International Relations - General    6. Mandates    7. Middle East - General    8. Political Ideologies - Nationalism    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Revolutionary    12. Syria    13. Asian / Middle Eastern history: from c 1900 -    14. History / Middle East    15. Inter-war period, 1918-1939   

Subjects:  1. Chile    2. Czech Republic    3. International Relations - General    4. Political Science    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Revolutions    7. Social aspects    8. Sociology    9. South Africa    10. Violence in Society    11. Europe    12. Revolutions & coups   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Culture    3. Direct action    4. Dissenters    5. Protest movements    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. Anthropology    10. Australia    11. Brazil    12. Colombia    13. Cultural studies    14. Demonstrations & protest movements    15. Germany    16. India    17. Korea    18. Peru    19. Revolutions & coups    20. USA    21. Violence in society   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Austria & Hungary    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - General    6. Military - Other    7. Revolutionary    8. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    9. History / Military / General    10. Hungary    11. Revolutions & coups    12. c 1945 to c 1960   

Reviews (3)

White Settler Empire
As a professional legal historian with an interest in both social history (I was nurtured in "Warwick school" historiography) and in colonial legal histories I have a strong professional interest in the subject matter of David Anderson's account of the Mau Mau period in Kenya.The book is first-rate in all respects.
F.I.
Even as a child, and as an African, I have always been interested in the TRUE HISTORY of my continent not told by the so called conqueror, which has always shown people who rebel in a disgustingly bad and unture light. Especially the american majority, who somehow get amnesia regarding the how and why this STOLEN LAND got its so called democracy.
Shadow of empire
This expose of the English colonial history of Kenya does a good job setting the record straight on some key issues, and brings to light the suppressed shadow side of the endgme during the period of the Mau Mau. The infamous reputation of the Mau Mau always deflected attention from the totally inept and repressive nature of the last hurrah of the colonialists in the sunset of the British Empire. The colonialization of Kenya was ill-conceived and predatory from the start, and the whole history was a riddled with a set of contradictions, such as the artificial creation of the exploitative white settler culturedooming Kenyan development from the first. You cannot let loose such a gang of people such as the white settler crowd, poor white trash in a true sense,without the rapid appearance of a malignant culture and infrastructure. This account brings to light what was quickly downplayed, the massive repression of the Kikuyu during the Emergency, with the creation of acutal Gulags. The depiction of many of the judicial processes of the period, including the trial of Jomo Kenyatta, is of a mockery of justice. The Kenyan style colony was really an instance of the Empire in decline from its nineteenth century peak and at least the British had the sense after Suez not to prolong the inevitable. See also _Imperial Reckoning_, by Elkins ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa - East - Kenya    2. Africa - General    3. Europe - Great Britain - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Kenya    8. Mau Mau Emergency, 1952-1960    9. Modern - 20th Century    10. Revolutionary   

Subjects:  1. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Military - General    6. Modern - 20th Century    7. Revolutionary    8. Russia - History - 1917 To 1991    9. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)   

Reviews (2)

Great Understanding of the Colonial Tobacco Coast Culture
I bought this book for genealogical purposes, but found that it was a very enjoyable book to read and explained the culture of the Tobacco Coast to me better than several other books I have read. There was also enough detailthat I felt I understood much more of the thought processes of the people Ihave been tracing and has fleshed out their surroundings in a very completeway.

Excellent Scholarship and Good History
Professor Lee gives us a scholarly review of a microcosm of the culture and weltanshauung of a relatively backwater Maryland county headed intorevolution.That such scholarship is targeted at a minor topic is trulyimpressive.If anything, it gives one pause as to whether the investmentin academic research in history is overdone.For here is a representativepicture drawn, but at such detail it must have taken tremendous resources. One wonders what topics suffer to give such infinite color to a tiny leafon a giant tree.But the beauty of scholarship and solid writing for thoseinterested in this topic, such as genealogists or revolutionary warscholars, will find this book a delightfully sharp and detailed portrait ofa place whose most might town was the now unremembered "PortTobacco." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Charles County (Md.)    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History - U.S.    5. History: American    6. Maryland - Local History    7. Revolution, 1775-1783    8. Social aspects    9. U.S. History - Revolution And Confederation (1775-1789)    10. United States    11. United States - Revolutionary War    12. United States - State & Local - General    13. American history: c 1500 to c 1800    14. Local history    15. Revolutions & coups    16. Social history    17. USA    18. c 1700 to c 1800   

Reviews (10)

scholarlykatie
The Gate of Heavenly Peace thoroughly documents the naivety of a prevailing idea during the conflict. During the occupation of Tiananmen Square in 1989, some student leaders and their followers alike believed a simplistic formula: Bloodshed would awake people; the awakened people would rise up; and democracy would somehow naturally result. But as the whole world sadly witnessed, there were only severe bloodsheds and casualties but no uprising whatsoever. The Gate of Heavenly Peace presents this fact metaphorically with blood stains on the stone pavements in the subsequently tranquil Tiananmen Square after the crackdown. We can calmly observe that after all the people's uprising did not happen. This might be a less miserable outcome though. In my judgment, an uprising of the unorganized civilians would have accomplished everything--nationwide chaos, for one--but democracy.