American Revolution - Resolution & Aftermath, General & Miscellaneous European History, Nationalism & Sovereignty - General & Miscellaneous, Europe - General & Miscellaneous - Politics & Government, Nationalism & Sovereignty - History, American Revolution
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Overview
"Entertaining and thought-provoking." (Times Literary Supplement)"Zamoyski skillfully brings together all the strains of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century nationalism, from the American Revolution to the Paris Commune, showing how quasi-religious idealism prepared the way for both fascism and communism. . . . A stimulating and finely written book." (Antony Beevor, author of Stalingrad)
From the first shots of the American Revolution in 1776 to the last agony of the Paris Commune in 1871, Adam Zamoyski recreates an era when determined men and women were willing to die for the cause of an idealized nation, and who transformed the society of Europe and its colonies. Moving fluidly through the history of the tumultuous years that embraced the American and French revolutions, the Irish Rebellion, the Polish uprisings, the liberation of South America, and the Italian Risorgimento, Holy Madness captures the passion of revolutionary figures who were caught up in the fervor of the nationalist crusade, while exposing the dangerous fallacies of their idealism.
Author Biography: Adam Zamoyski's other books include biographies of Chopin and Paderewski and a history of Poland.
Editorials
Library Journal
Zamoyski (The Polish Way; Paderewski. o.p.) has written extensively on the history and people of his native Poland, and it is the liberating odyssey of his homeland that explains his empathy for the protagonists of this rambling narrative. Holy Madness covers a century of revolutionary fervor that started with the American Revolution and ended with the demise of the Paris Commune in 1871. The Marquis de Lafayette, Francisco de Miranda, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Giuseppe Garibaldi are just a few of the paladins of liberty who roam the pages of this saga. Their common bond was a liberal ideology that rested on a belief in the innate goodness of human beings. Inevitably, the revolutionary fires they started consumed many of the souls that were seized by this holy madness. Yet today, from Russia to Mexico, their dream of creating governments responsive to personal liberties is closer to reality than ever before in the history of the West. Holy Madness is a good choice for any public or academic library that seeks to strengthen its Western civilization collections.--Jim Doyle, Sara Hightower Regional Lib., Rome, GA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\Kirkus Reviews
A lively, witty whirlwind tour of a calamitous century when Europe and so much of the rest of the world was up in arms, from Polish historian and biographer Zamoyski (Chopin, not reviewed).Book Details
Published
October 1, 2000
Publisher
New York : Viking, 2000.
Pages
512
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780670892716