The age of revolutions isn’t over
Why is it such a special – downright exalted – moment when the people rise up, on Tahrir Square in Cairo or on the Maidan in Kiev? Why do revolutions thrill us, even when we know that their actual aims won’t be reached, will be quelled or betrayed – usually by the revolutionaries themselves? In this rivetingly written, very personal book, von Randow describes his experience of revolutions and examines the question of whether they are still a viable model for the future. His answers are extremely topical and surprising.
A hundred years ago, the October Revolution prevailed in Russia. And 50 years ago an entire generation of young people believed that the age of revolutions was once again at hand. What remains of all this? Nothing but resignation? And what is a revolution anyway? In 2011, the author was given an object lesson when he became an eyewitness to the Tunisian Revolution. His thesis: revolutions arrive unexpectedly. And yet, it is possible to discern certain recurring patterns.
The author turns his attention to the American continent, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. He covers centuries, from the rebellious slaves in ancient times to the revolutionaries of 1789 and the international communist movement to present-day rebellions – always in search of facts and ideas that might shed light on the most unusual, multifaceted phenomenon in history: revolution.
“Revolutions are wonderful, terrible, as great in the good they contain as the bad. Through them, the ideal of freedom steps onto the stage of history. An exalted moment. Sometimes short-lived. Revolutions create something irrevocable. Even when the counterrevolution prevails.”
