Writing the History of Modern Revolutions

Writing the History of Modern Revolutions provides students with a comprehensive overview of the history of revolutions and how these histories have been framed, debated, and understood since the nineteenth century.

Beginning in the 19th century with historical accounts of the French Revolution, the book traces how contemporary politics and new developments in the humanities and social sciences have shaped existing scholarship and analysis of revolutionary phenomenon. Not only this, but the book also offers a concise and synthetic account of how scholars have addressed contemporary critical political and social issues in a historical context, which will be of value to both scholars across disciplines as well as students taking courses in political science, sociology, and modern history.

The book will provide students with a solid understanding of some of the most dramatic moments in modern history, including Revolutions relevant to Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the post-colonial world. It will encourage students to think critically about how the history of modern revolutions have been written and provide them with a thorough understanding of the approaches to revolution, key works and scholars in the field, as well as an understanding of the wider contexts in which these revolutions occurred.

Gavin Murray-Miller is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Cardiff University, UK. He is the author of The Cult of the Modern: Trans-Mediterranean France and The Construction of French Modernity (2017) and Revolutionary Europe, (Bloomsbury 2020)