Revolutionary Spring

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What to expect

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.

©2023 Christopher Clark (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

  • Magnificent, authoritative and deeply-researched… a supreme work of scholarship.

    The Telegraph

  • 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.

    History Today

  • 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

    The Times

  • 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.

    Observer

  • 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.

    Daily Mail

  • 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.

    Sunday Times

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