| The Furies: Violence and Terror in the French and Russian Revolutions Subjects: France -- History -- Revolution 1789–1799 -- Influence; Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution 1917–1921 -- Influence; Political violence -- France; Political violence -- Soviet Union; France -- History -- Reign of Terror 1793–1794; Terror -- Soviet Uni; The great romance and fear of bloody revolution--strange blend of idealism and terror--have been superseded by blind faith in the bloodless expansion of human rights and global capitalism. Flying in the face of history, violence is dismissed as rare, immoral, and counterproductive. Arguing against this pervasive wishful thinking, the distinguished historian Arno J. Mayer revisits the two most tumultuous and influential revolutions of modern times: the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917. Arno J. Mayer is Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. He is best known for his last two books: The Persistence of the Old Regime and Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?: The "Final Solution" in History . He is also the author of Political Origins of the New Diplomacy and Politics and Diplomacy of Peacemaking . |