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Revolutionary Spring

Fighting for a New World 1848-1849

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Revolutionary Spring

By: Christopher Clark
Narrated by: Christopher Clark
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'People embraced each other, shook hands, joy radiated from every eye, there was no limit to the celebrations...'

There can be few more exciting or frightening moments in European history than the spring of 1848. Almost as if by magic, in city after city, from Palermo to Paris to Venice, huge crowds gathered, sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent, and the political order that had held sway since the defeat of Napoleon simply collapsed.

Christopher Clark's spectacular new book recreates with verve, wit and insight this extraordinary period. Some rulers gave up at once, others fought bitterly, but everywhere new politicians, beliefs and expectations surged forward. The role of women in society, the end of slavery, the right to work, national independence and the final emancipation of the Jews all became live issues.

In a brilliant series of set-pieces, Clark conjures up both this ferment of new ideas and then the increasingly ruthless and effective series of counter-attacks launched by regimes who still turned out to have many cards to play. But even in defeat, exiles spread the ideas of 1848 around the world and - for better and sometimes much worse - a new and very different Europe emerged from the wreckage.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Christopher Clark (P)2023 Penguin Audio
19th Century Europe Military Napoleon Bonaparte Imperialism France Italy War City Interwar Period

Critic Reviews

Magnificent, authoritative and deeply-researched... a supreme work of scholarship. (Simon Heffer)
Clark has achieved the impossible: a synoptic history of a subject which defies synopsis... this is history on an epic scale... a masterpiece and one of the best history books you will read this decade. (Jonathan Boff)
Refreshingly original... it's fascinating, suspenseful, revelatory, alive. Familiar characters are given vibrancy and previously unknown players emerge from the shadows.. Clark's prose is beautiful but also crystal clear (Gerard de Groot)
Magnificent... does a remarkable job weaving together the myriad strands that make up the narrative, allowing us to see the events in granular detail and with synoptic, Europe-wide vision. (Kenan Malik)
Full of characters, colour and story, but also makes the arresting case that the revolutions ... changed Europe and the world in ways felt to this day... the history teacher you wished you'd had. (Jonathan Freedland)
A marvel of research and analysis. No corner of Europe, from the Ukrainian borderlands to the Greek islands, escapes his gaze.. a titanic monument to historical scholarship. (Dominic Sandbrook)

What listeners say about Revolutionary Spring

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Fascinating history

A truly fascinating history of the period. Dense and full, yet still accessible to the reader who knows a little bit of history. I thought it was so good I will read again after some time. The writer, who is also the reader of this book has a great audio talent. I would like to add his pronunciation of names appear extraordinary. Bravo sir.

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Well told history foreshadows today!

Displaying the gifts of a great historian in his prime, Clark brings to life the antecedents, events and aftermaths of the 1848 revolutionary movements across Europe. His account is enriched by his manifest polylinguistic skills and depth of pan-european insight. His narration stands apart for its lightness of touch, wit, and a phenomenal command of vocabulary. Clark is an accomplished multi-media presenter with thespian skills that enliven his reading the diverse themes of the story he tells.

Far more important than entertaining narration is the quality of Revolutionary Spring. In my view this is a more important study than Clark's internationally recognised "The Sleepwalkers" . Revolutionary Spring is a magisterial product of extensive research, informed by wide consultation with other historians and experts, Clark's own grounding in European history, his near unique media presentation skills and his sensitivity to evolved settings of 21st century geopolitics.
His conclusions point to design flaws of 1848 processes that are compellingly pertinent to present day readers: "loss of cohesion under democratic conditions, the failure of dialogue, the hardening of orthodoxies impervious to argument, the inability to prioritise objectives and coalesce for the purposes of pursuing them; the difficulty of correcting, within any given system, for the preponderance of certain economic and political elites. Particularly striking is the continuing salience of the politics of emancipation that was so central to 1848: the battles for racial and gender equality continue in our own time...".
I expect that this book will become a classic, highly esteemed by students of modern history, whose appreciation of it will be enhanced by their access to the author's voice and presentational virtuosity.

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Vivid and gripping

The history of 1848 made absolutely relevant to 2024…startling philosophical observations and poetic metaphors. A brilliant achievement.

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A tapestry of the ideas and ideologies of 1848

Well narrated and written, while long it feels like it could be longer. Brilliant!

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