April 2024 HistoryCAT: Riots, Revolution, and Mayhem

Peterloo Massacre, Manchester, England 1819 (following protests of Corn Laws). Pic from The History Channel

April's topics are riots, revolutions, and mayhem. You may read either fiction or non-fiction. Below are some possible topics:

American Riots
1863 Draft Riot
Richmond Bread Riot
LA race riots of 1960’s
Haymarket Riot of 1876
Chicago Railroad Strike of 1877 (over 500 riots)
Carnegie Steel Strike (Homestead)
Vietnam Anti-War Riots
Riots following the death of George Floyd, Treyvon Martin
Zoot Suit Riots

British Riots
Riots following the death of Edson Costa
Anti-government protests in London in 2011 after government cut backs
Upton Park Riot
Mayday Riot
Jacobite Rebellion of 1745
Gunpowder Plot of 1605

Riots/Rebellions Elsewhere
Wildfire Protests (Australia)
Covid restriction protests (Austria)
Anti-Rape protests -Bangladesh
Indigenous land rights protests-Brazil
Tiananmen Square-China
Many election fraud protests around the world.
Maccabean Revolt (circa 165 BC)
Irish Rebellion of 1798
Zealots vs. Romans (circa AD 65)
Uprising at Auschwitz Extermination Camp (1944)
Warsaw Uprising

Revolutions de jour
American 1776-1783
Russian 1918-1921
French 1789-1799
Haitian 1791-1804
Industrial Revolutions (1st and 2nd)
Agricultural Revolutions (1st and 2nd)
Cuba (1950’s)
Iran (1979)
People Power Revolution (Philippines) 1980’s
Mexican (1910-1920)
Chinese Cultural Revolution (Circa 1966-1976)

Not sure where to place these:
Solidarity (Poland)
Amistad Slave Ship
Malian Spring
Arab Spring

Mayhem—I love that word! Definition: violent or damaging disorder, chaos. Mayhem often ensues after an act of violence, large gatherings of crowds, or natural disasters (looting).

Wounded Knee Massacre (1876, U.S.)

Here is a list of revolutions and rebellions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions

Any suggestions? What will you be reading?

The wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_HistoryCAT#April:_Riots.2C_Revoluti...

I'm planning to read The Contest by Michael Schumacher, about the 1968 presidential election, which is remembered for rioting at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Here's a suggestion that covers both this CAT and the PrizeCAT. The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright won the Stella Award. Eureka is the miners' rebellion during the gold rush in Ballarat. The Eureka flag is still flown in Australia as a symbol of rebellion.

Another Australian rebellion, when Australia was still the British penal colony of NSW, is the rum rebellion, when the troops rebelled against Governor Bligh (famous for the mutiny on the Bounty).

Would these count as rebellions/revolutions/mayhem: France, May 1968; The English Civil War (1642–1651); the Vietnam War Moratoriums; women's suffrage protests?

I think I'll read Scaramouche!

I plan to read a book on Iran next month, Zwischen den Welten - Von Macht und Ohnmacht im Iran by Natalie Amiri. I am not sure about how much it covers of the revolution, but it might work. There will be other options if it doesn't, though!

>3 pamelad: I'm sure all of those would fit into revolutions, protests, and mayhem!

I'm planning on reading Gingrich's Valley Forge, since I liked To Try Men's Souls so much!

A description of The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia says it's set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution so I'll be reading that.

>8 dudes22: That one is on my shelf. Will be interested in what you think!

I have a few possibilities:
Requiem / Lauren Oliver
Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow / Juliet Grey (Marie Antoinette)
Shift / Hugh Howey

I've started listening to the audiobook of John Adams by David McCullough. Adams, of course, was a key player in the American struggle for independence.

It's very recent history, but I'm counting The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory by Tim Alberta, since it frequently touches on factors leading to the January 6 insurrection.

I have been slowly making my way through The 1619 Project and I'm hoping to finally finish it this month - it addresses the reactions to the murder of George Floyd, among others in 2020 - so I think I can count it here.

Edited to correct touchstone.

I finished a very lengthy tome, From Here to Eternity. This book takes place before and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I would classify it as mayhem, which I had not thought about. Still hope to get to Valley Forge by Gingrich before the month's end.

I just reread One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters, my favorite book in the excellent Brother Cadfael series. The story is set during the civil war between Stephen and Matilda in 12th-century England, which apparently is known as the Anarchy. So I think it counts under mayhem!

Requiem / Lauren Oliver
3.5 stars

This is book 3 of (I believe) a trilogy. The gist of this dytopian trilogy is that people are “cured” of a disease with a surgery when they come of age. That disease is love. They will no longer feel love. They are then paired with someone to marry. But there is a group of people who don’t want this to happen, at least to them. This book follows Lena and Hana, once best friends. Their points of view alternate.

Possible spoilers for previous books: Lena is living with a group of people in the “wilds”; she has not had the surgery nor does she want to. Hana has had the surgery and is slated to marry Fred. Fred’s father was the mayor, but he died in an uprising and Fred is now mayor. He emphasizes how much he despises the uncured. He was married previously to Cassie, but Cassie seems to have disappeared.

I listened to the audio and this was good. Once again, it took a bit for me to figure out who many of the characters were (though I knew the main characters). It was interesting to see Hana’s and Lena’s different viewpoints, given where they each were at this point in their lives. I found Hana’s POV a bit more interesting than Lena’s. I did like how it ended.

Unless I can squeeze in some other book, I'm counting Watery Grave here, because Sir John Fielding almost has to read the Riot Act to rampaging sailors, and the Navy has well-founded fears of a mutiny on board one of its ships. It would also have worked well for the Georgian England period, as it is set in 1769.

I read In Ashes Lie by Marie Brennan, book 2 in the Onyx Court historical fantasy series where there is a fairy court under London that tries to sway the politics of the mortal world. This one takes place during the time of the English Civil War in the 1640s up to the mayhem of the Great London Fire in 1666. I did not enjoy this one as much as the first in the series.

I finished John Adams by David McCullough (2001). I felt like I really knew the personality and character of John Adams when I finished this book. McCullough used quite a bit of Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail and others to bring him to life. Adams felt most proud of his work for independence during the Revolutionary years and his part in constructing the Massachusetts constitution, which later became a model for the U.S. Constitution. I love McCullough's narrative style and it made the book move quickly despite its 600+ pages.

The May thread on the Middle Ages has been posted.

I read The Burning Chambers a story of 16th century Huguenots vs. Catholics set in France. One of the incidents in the book was the Riots of Toulouse.

Rapscallion starts on a prison hulk for French POWs and moves on to English smugglers planning revenge for the destruction of their boats by government. There's heaps of mayhem.

This month I read The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir. There were multiple uprisings and revolts against the various kings, multiple battles, and lots of mayhem. The Wikipedia list of revolutions and rebellions includes Jack Cade's Rebellion, which was also covered in the book.

I have finished Les adieux à la Reine, about the first days of the French Revolution as seen by the Queen's reader. A minor detail which I hadn't seen elsewhere before is that the courtiers were still wearing black, in mourning for the Dauphin.

I finished The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, which covered a number of periods of riots, revolution and mayhem in the US, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, lynching and other anti-Black crimes and the protests against the murder of George Floyd.

I read Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer was a biography of Paul Revere, but really more about the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the American Revolutionary War. Nice contrast with Longfellow's poem, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, which I also read.

I reread The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu this month. The Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s plays a part in the story, so I think it would fit here.

I read The Wardrobe Mistress, about the last years of Marie Antoinette.

I did not fulfill this CAT in April because I was so busy then, but I always wanted to rectify that and had several options listed to do so. Now I read Der Feuerturm by Catalin Dorian Florescu and realized that it fits perfectly because it features the Romanian revolution of December 1989 as well as other upheavals and conflicts of 20th century Bucharest.
It is a very good novel, but it has not been translated to English unfortunately.