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The Great Upheaval
The Great Upheaval
The Great Upheaval
Audiobook (abridged)12 hours

The Great Upheaval

Written by Jay Winik

Narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

It is an era that redefined history. As the 1790s began, a fragile America teetered on the brink of oblivion, Russia towered as a vast imperial power, and France plunged into monumental revolution. But none of these remarkable events occurred in isolation. In The Great Upheaval, acclaimed historian Jay Winik masterfully illuminates how their fates combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization.

Winik brings his vast, meticulous research and narrative genius to the cold, dark battlefields and deadly clashes of ideologies that defined this age. Here is a savage world war, the toppling of a great dynasty, and an America struggling to survive at home and abroad. Here, too, is the first modern Holy War between Islam and a resurgent Christian empire. And here is the richest cast of characters ever to walk upon the world stage: Washington and Jefferson, Louis XVI and Robespierre, Catherine the Great, Adams, Napoleon, and Selim III. Exquisitely written and utterly compelling, The Great Upheaval vividly depicts an arc of revolutionary fervor stretching from Philadelphia and Paris to St. Petersburg and Cairo—with fateful results. A landmark in historical literature, Winik's gripping, epic portrait of this tumultuous decade will forever transform the way we see America's beginnings and our world.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateSep 11, 2007
ISBN9780061554384
The Great Upheaval
Author

Jay Winik

Jay Winik is the author of the New York Times bestseller April 1865. He is a senior scholar of history and public policy at the University of Maryland and a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

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Reviews for The Great Upheaval

Rating: 3.936170161702128 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a great book. Fantastic mix of story telling and history. But this recording is missing last chapter and Epilogue.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Winik's book is not for sissies. It is 600 plus pages, and spans a 12 year stage with a regiment of players. I thought of calling it less a book, more an education, but Winik has sacrificed accuracy for artistic license and this disqualifies him from academic acclaim. However, this in no way distracts from the pleasure that this volume brings. John Ruskin said "Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect in all their actions." And this applies to this book. His errors to the average reader are unimportant. All he is guilty of is rounding up ages, and being specific when specificity cannot be proved. Not-with-standing the above, this book will keep you riveted to the twilight years of the 18th century. It will increase your knowledge of the champions of American independence, and introduce you to Europeans who tried to emulate it, and those who tried to smother it.The book oscillates between America, Russia and France introducing the reader to the prominent figures of the time in the most interesting detail. England has a 'walk-on' part and almost closes the volume with its decimation of the French fleet at the battle of Aboukir Bay. Unfortunately the book ends at 1800 so we are denied the drubbing Napoleon got at Trafalgar and Waterloo. At the end of this book, Napoleon is still ahead on points.There have been legitimate critics of Winik's book on the grounds of inaccuracy, and that is to be regretted as if reduces the work to a flawed masterpiece. I confess that it did not distract me from enjoying the book one iota. If you are interested in history, and want to know how the American revolution influenced and incited rank and file Europeans, then I recommend that you invest $19.77 ($12.33 paperback), in this book - you will not regret it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    History that reads as a novel. Taking three focal points, American Revolution, French Revolution and the Russian failed attempt into liberalization, the book weaves together the story lines. The book has a very high BPP, bodies per page, one of highest I've read in awhile.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reads really quickly, more like a novel than history, and intricately links political and philosophical thinking across America, France, and Russia to make the point that society was global even back then, though communications were slower. Drives home the connections between American and European unrest during this period and the shaping of these nations.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellently written and read it ties the seemingly disparate threads of Russian foreign policy and American culture together into the knot of French discontent and revolution...and it's reciprocal effects in turn.
    While it is, unfortunately, a narrative of these three countries almost exclusively, the story goes far, if in a slightly abridged fashion, towards removing these historical discussions from the more insular nature of previous studies and placing them into the comprehensive reality of geopolitical events.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating confluence of people, ideas, and tumultuous affairs: the American colonies, revolutionary France, and Imperial Russia at the end of the 18th century.

    Excellent narration and production.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reads really quickly, more like a novel than history, and intricately links political and philosophical thinking across America, France, and Russia to make the point that society was global even back then, though communications were slower. Drives home the connections between American and European unrest during this period and the shaping of these nations.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Winik gives adjectives a real workout in this entertaining but hyperbolic account of the events roiling the end of the 18th Century, focused mostly on the French Revolution but also on the American Revolution and the empire building of the Russians. In long strings of clauses laden with excess verbiage, Winik recounts the “unmitigated horror” the “momentous decisions” the “quickening pulse” the “dreaded specter” the “clarion call” -– you get the idea. His clauses sometimes sound like personals ads: “incorrigibly flawed yet ironically suited,” “inspired yet quixotic,” “uncommonly brave yet psychologically frail.” Triteness is not a barrier to Winik – he has no qualms about describing “golden shores," "quickening pulses," or "words dripping with emotion”; nor about exclaiming that “behind this legend was a man” ("of fabled status"), or “it was a fateful day” (or "it was not to be"). Alliteration also has great appeal in his tour of the adjectives: “audaciously assumed”, “terrible toll,” “defiantly demanded,” “frenzied fighting.” But where he waxes most florid in his verbal outpourings is in the tales of war: “ghastly massacre,” “blood flowed like rivers,” “bestial fighting,” “crushing defeat,” “murderous enemy,” “brutally decapitated” (is there a non-brutal decapitation?). When I wasn’t rolling my eyes, for the most part I was enjoying the stories. A blow-by-blow account of the lead-up to the guillotining of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette may not be among the most important aspects of the French Revolution, but it sure makes for good drama. Likewise his account of Catherine the Great’s suppression of a peasant revolt. So I would, in fact, recommend it, although that seems incredulous, incorrigible, and inexplicable. Implacable though it may be, yet, it is inexorable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In "The Great Upheaval," Winik's thesis is that the political events in Russia, France, and America during the time period of 1788-1800 were not isolated incidents. Rather, the political world at this time was more global than once thought, resulting in individuals playing key roles in events on both continents. For example, Winik describes Jefferson's role in both the shaping of America, as well as his support of the initial stages of the French Revolution. Other impotant historical figures discussed include Catherine, Adams, Washington, Kosciuszko, Louis XVI, Lafayette, and many others. Although Winik painstakingly recounts the events and actions of these three countries during these 12 years, at times they seem removed from one another. He writes one chapter at a time about each country, with each chapter being approximately 5 years. Thus each chapter furthers the country's storyline independent from the other countries. This method forces the reader to interconnect the storylines of the three countries on your own. It is not until the last chapter (and Epilogue) that the events in each country are directly connected within the chapter. I did appreciate how Winik showed that the same negative revolutionary ideas that commanded the French Revolution were also at times evident in America and Russia as well. The only reason that America and Russia did not share the same fateful fate as the French was a result of leadership. Overall, I thought it was a fascinating read, especially if you are interested in the background behind the great events of the late 18th century. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a new perspective on this time period as well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Winik ties together the events in early US history, the French Revolution and the initially liberal but eventually reactionary government of Catherine the Great. He does a good job of showing how interrelated all of these events were and that the world at that time was more "global" than you might think. A little bit of US cheer leading(certainly a bigger fan of Hamilton than I am), but when you consider the outcomes of the 3 systems it is hard to argue that it isn't mostly deserved.