From 1789 in France to 2011 in Cairo, revolutions have shaken the world.
In 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.
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.
Finally, the author 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.
