Title: Blood of Revolution
Author: Erik Durschmied
Version: Hardcover
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 1559706562
Year Published: 2001
Pages: 408
List Price: $14.95
Description:
From Publishers Weekly
The former Newsweek correspondent who
has toyed about with variations on the theme of "What if?" in his
speculative histories The Hinge Factor and The Weather Factor settles
down here to look at the actual record of the great political
revolutions of the last two centuries. It is not a happy story, nor a
heroic one. "Genius, courage and creativity are powerful forces,"
Durschmied concedes; "but so is evil." And, indeed, every one of the
great cataclysms described here seems, at some (fairly early) point in
its development, to have been transformed into a mad witch's Sabbath of
fanatics, opportunists, sadists, conmen and outright lunatics whose
single-minded lust for power would have taken Machiavelli's breath
away. Durschmied illustrates it all with vivid, journalistic detail: a
Parisian hairdresser arranging the coiffure of the Princesse de
Lamballe's severed head; the drunken turkey-shoot in which the
Bolsheviks assassinated the tsar's family; Pancho Villa's sport of
lining up hostages atop railway cars and gunning them down like bowling
pins; the snuff films made of the hangings of resistance leaders for
Hitler's personal amusement. The author's intent is not primarily
analytical, but he makes it clear that political collapses as complete
as those detailed here are never the result of simple conquest,
militarily or ideologically, and that no ruler is ever overthrown
unless he or she is profoundly inept, weak-willed or stupid (e.g.,
Louis XVI, Nicholas II, the shah of Iran). Durschmied writes
wonderfully fluid and engaging accounts. The final chapter, on the
Khomeinite revolution in Iran, is particularly timely now. 16 pages of
b&w photos not seen by PW. First printing 15,000.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A
journalist and military historian based in France, Durschmied here
presents an engaging account of selected revolutions in modern history.
"Revolution is born of hope and its philosophy is formally optimistic,"
he writes, but it is the strategic maneuvering and the aftermath of the
revolution, when things fall apart, that fascinates this author.
Beginning with a lengthy review of the French Revolution, he succinctly
covers a succession of revolutionary movements, including the Mexican
Revolution of 1910, the Russian Revolution, the death of Che Guevara,
Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution in Iran, and others. He draws upon
interviews, field reporting, and research in French, German, and
Russian archives for his material. The light and lively narrative
serves as a useful introduction for the general reader. A selective
bibliography identifies the major titles for each revolution covered.
First published in Britain as Whisper of the Blade, this book is best
suited for public libraries and is recommended chiefly as a companion
to Durschmied's previous works, such as The Hinge Factor: How Chance
and Stupidity Have Changed History (LJ 3/1/00). Thomas A. Karel,
Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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