The European Revolutions, 1848-1851

Brilliant, readable grand summary of these revolutions. It is not the most dramatic book, if drama means leading personages and famous events. But it makes the case (overwhelmingly) that this way of looking at 1848 fails to capture what is really unique: the dramatic expansion of political experience, beyond the tiny minorities that had participated in politics before. Outside of Paris and Vienna, beyond the labor movement, Sperber shows that the mid-century revolutions were more inclusive than the French Revolution, even if less "successful," and set a high-water mark for political participation that would not be reached again for fifty years. Particularly strong IMHO on the Habsburg Empire and its periphery, the part that I've really struggled to get (or to care about): Hungry, Romania, Croatia, places like that, and on the issues of religion and nationalism. Great selective bibliography, too. Can't say enough good things about this lucid, sweeping but surprisingly short book. ( )