History's Locomotives : Revolutions and the Making of the Modern World

by Martin Malia; Edited and with a Foreword by Terence Emmons

• ISBN13: 9780300126907
• ISBN10: 0300126905
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2008-01-22
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This masterful comparative history traces the West's revolutionary tradition and its culmination in the Communist revolutions of the twentieth century. Unique in breadth and scope,History's Locomotivesoffers a new interpretation of the origins and history of socialism as well as the meanings of the Russian Revolution, the rise of the Soviet regime, and the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. History's Locomotivesis the masterwork of an esteemed historian in whom a fine sense of historical particularity never interfered with the ability to see the large picture. Martin Malia explores religious conflicts in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, the revolutions in England, American, and France, and the twentieth-century Russian explosions into revolution. He concludes that twentieth-century revolutions have deep roots in European history and that revolutionary thought and action underwent a process of radicalization from one great revolution to the next. Malia offers an original view of the phenomenon of revolution and a fascinating assessment of its power as a driving force in history.

Author Biography

The late Martin Malia was respected as one of the great historians of Russia. Terence Emmons is professor of history, emeritus, Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Introduction. Delineating the Problem	p. 1
Historic Europe: The Medieval Matrix and Its Internal Contradictions, 1000-1400	p. 11
Revolution as Religious Heresy
Hussite Bohemia, 1415-1436: From Heresy to Proto-Revolution	p. 37
Lutheran Germany, 1517-1555: The Reformation as Semi-Revolution	p. 60
Huguenot France, 1559-1598	p. 98
The Netherlands' Revolt, 1566-1609	p. 115
Classic Atlantic Revolutions
England, 1640-1660-1688: From Religious to Political Revolution	p. 133
America, 1776-1787: Revolution as Great Good Fortune	p. 161
France, 1789-1799: Revolution as Militant Modernity	p. 178
The Quest for Socialist Revolution
From the First Modern Revolution to the First Anticipated Revolution, 1799-1848: The Nineteenth Century at a Glance	p. 215
Marxism and the Second International, 1848-1914	p. 240
Red October: The Revolution to End All Revolutions	p. 253
Conclusion and Epilogue	p. 279
Revolution: What's in a Name?	p. 287
High Social Science and "Staseology"	p. 302
Notes	p. 317
Index	p. 343
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