All power, however apparently absolute, is limited and all allegiance, however seemingly blind is, ultimately, conditional. Here we look at books covering the theory, practice and historical experience of resistance and rebellion.
On the more theoretical side we have interviews on political engagement for teens, holding power to account, dissent, civil resistance, the roots of radicalism, protest songs, policing public disorder, anarchism and, related to that, the leaderless revolution, in which former UK diplomat Carne Ross discusses his work for the Occupy movement.
Turning to the experience of resistance and rebellion in specific countries, we have particularly rich material on China, with interviews on the Cultural Revolution, 100 years of modern China, the events of June 4 1989 in Tiananmen Square, China and the Internet, popular protest in China and Chinese dissident literature. We also have Professor Michael Dillon of Tsingua University discussing Uyghur nationalism and Robert Barnett, Professor of Contemporary Tibetan Studies at Columbia, choosing his best books on Tibet.
Elsewhere Lynn Hunt, Professor of Modern European History at UCLA, delves into the French Revolution. We also have interviews on General de Gaulle’s place in French culture and on de Gaulle and the French Resistance. On England, Steven Pincus looks at the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and Murray Pittock considers the resistance to that revolution with his books on Jacobitism. Turning to Britain’s imperial role, Timothy Knatchbull considers the Troubles in Ireland and novelist and poet Adam Foulds, looks at the Mau Mau resistance to British rule in Kenya.
Elsewhere Marc Lynch of George Washington University delves into the Origins of the Arab Uprisings of the Arab Spring and author and journalist John Carlin considers Nelson Mandela and South Africa.
We have a separate page dedicated to historical revolutions—not only political but also social, cultural, industrial etc.
The best books on Boudica, recommended by Richard Hingley
Boudica was an Iron Age queen who led her people into rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Britannia. She was defeated, but only after she had burned several towns, including London, to the ground. Here Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, explains how to sift the truth from the myth, and why Boudica has remained an enduring source of fascination down the centuries.
The best books on The French Revolution, recommended by Lynn Hunt
It’s a revolution that still resonates and yet it resists easy interpretation. Lynn Hunt, a leading historian of the French Revolution, tells us what the events of 1789 and later years really meant, and what relevance they have for us today.
The best books on Political Engagement For Teens, recommended by Adrienne Kisner
Are you a teenager who is furious about the way the world seems to be going? Do you feel powerless and overwhelmed? Author Adrienne Kisner recommends five really good books that will inspire and inform teens and young adults, giving them the tools to get involved in activism, to understand politics—and to change the world.
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1
'Anarchism', in the Encyclopaedia Britannica
by Peter Kropotkin -
2
Gates of Freedom: Voltairine de Cleyre and the Revolution of the Mind
by Eugenia C. DeLamotte -
3
The Slavery of Our Times
by Leo Tolstoy -
4
Autonomy, Solidarity, Possibility: The Colin Ward Reader
by Chris Wilbert, Colin Ward & Damian F. White -
5
Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870-1940
by Lucien van der Walt & Steven Hirsch
The best books on Anarchism, recommended by Ruth Kinna
The best books on Anarchism, recommended by Ruth Kinna
Sometimes vilified, often misunderstood, rarely taught in universities, anarchism is a political philosophy and social movement that’s far removed from today’s mainstream politics. But it was and remains a powerful motivator. Political theorist Ruth Kinna talks us through the best books to read to get a better understanding of anarchism.
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1
English Society 1660-1832
by Jonathan Clark -
2
The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1715-1754
by Romney Sedgwick ed. -
3
Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788
by Paul Monod -
4
1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion
by Daniel Szechi -
5
France and the Jacobite Rising of 1745
by Frank McLynn
The best books on Jacobitism, recommended by Murray Pittock
The best books on Jacobitism, recommended by Murray Pittock
The failure of the Stuarts to win back the English or Scottish throne changed the course of history, enabling the buildup of a highly centralized British state and, possibly, America’s war for independence. Murray Pittock chooses the best books on Jacobitism, the 18th century phenomenon that nearly overthrew the British government.
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1
Hong Kong
by Jan Morris -
2
Hong Kong Noir: Fifteen true tales from the dark side of the city
by Feng Chi-shun -
3
Hotel China
by the Hong Kong Writers Circle -
4
The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong
by Pete Spurrier -
5
Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong
by Gordon Mathews
The best books on Hong Kong, recommended by Jason Ng
The best books on Hong Kong, recommended by Jason Ng
In 2014 Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Protests’ made news around the world. But will continuing protests in Hong Kong lead to advances in democracy or crackdowns by Beijing? Jason Ng, lawyer and author of Umbrellas in Bloom, chooses five of the best books for understanding China’s ‘foster child’ city.
The best books on June 4th, 1989, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
In contrast to Eastern Europe, the 1989 protests in China did not lead to the overthrow of the Communist Party. But if China’s leaders chose the right course on June 4th, 1989, why are they still frightened to come to terms with it? Sinologist and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom picks the best books to understand events at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and around China on that hot summer night.
The best books on China and the Internet, recommended by Gady Epstein
The ‘Great Fire Wall of China’. How has the Chinese Communist Party managed to survive the internet? Economist correspondent Gady Epstein chooses books on the world’s most successful case of authoritarian control of the internet.
The best books on Holding Power to Account, recommended by Heather Brooke
Heather Brooke’s investigative journalism was the catalyst for the MPs expenses scandal of 2009. With an eye to how power corrupts, from Orwell’s Animal Farm to an apartheid memoir, she looks at importance of sticking to one’s principles and the dangers that arise when we don’t
Ma Jian on Chinese Dissident Literature
Writers in China are afraid to criticise the state and society, says London-based author Ma Jian. From the 3rd century BC to 2008, these five exceptional works show how it’s done.
The best books on The Russian Revolution, recommended by Roland Chambers
The Russian revolution was the beginning of the modern age, says award-winning author Roland Chambers. He tells us what Solzhenitsyn imagined Lenin was like, and about the children’s author who led a double life as a spy in Bolshevik Russia.
The best books on Nelson Mandela and South Africa, recommended by John Carlin
Nelson Mandela was a most unusual and unusually astute leader, says journalist and author of Playing the Enemy, John Carlin. He chooses the best books to understand Nelson Mandela, who used forgiveness as a political tool, and South Africa, the country he brought peacefully out of apartheid.
The best books on Tibet, recommended by Robert Barnett
Discussions about Tibet are often reduced to arguments about China’s right to run it. The Tibetologist says this obscures a much more subtle debate about what it means to be Tibetan in modern Tibetan society.
The best books on Dissent, recommended by Timothy Snyder
The history professor tells us what today’s dissidents can learn from the experience of Eastern Europe and explains how Václav Havel leaves a lasting legacy of how to challenge the over-mighty
The best books on Modern China, recommended by Rana Mitter
In October 1911, China’s last imperial dynasty fell. The legacy of that revolution remains deeply ambiguous in today’s People’s Republic. China scholar Rana Mitter tells us about the country’s tumultuous changes from 1911 to the present day.
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Sharp’s Dictionary of Power and Struggle
by Gene Sharp -
2
Defeating Authoritarian Leaders in Postcommunist Countries
by Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik -
3
Why Civil Resistance Works
by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J Stephan -
4
People Power and Political Change
by April Carter -
5
The Lady and the Peacock
by Peter Popham
The best books on Civil Resistance, recommended by Sir Adam Roberts
The best books on Civil Resistance, recommended by Sir Adam Roberts
From Tunisia to Tahrir, Moscow to Manhattan, civil resistance is back. The British Academy president, and eminent student of people power, tells us how modern non-violent action began, and where it’s most likely to succeed
The best books on Context of the UK Riots, recommended by David Lammy
We’re richer and freer as a society than we used to be but it’s now clear there are downsides too. The MP for Tottenham, where the riots began, says we’ve created a hyper-individualistic culture and explains how we must change it
The best books on The Roots of Radicalism, recommended by Michael Kazin
History professor and co-editor of Dissent magazine, Michael Kazin, looks back at US leftist movements from abolitionism to Vietnam to see where OWS came from and what it can learn from the past.
The best books on The Leaderless Revolution, recommended by Carne Ross
Our political and economic systems are inadequate and failing. But what can we do? The author of a new book on the subject tells us what inspired his involvement in the Occupy movement and how a leaderless revolution could work
The best books on Egypt and America, recommended by Lloyd Gardner
The historian reflects on the past 60 years of American involvement in Egypt and tells us, after the Arab Spring, what may make the coming years different
The best books on Origins of the Arab Uprising, recommended by Marc Lynch
The Middle East scholar tells us what to read if we’re to understand where upheaval in the Arab world came from, and where it’s going.
The best books on Protest Songs, recommended by Dorian Lynskey
The journalist and author tells us what happens when protest meets pop music, which book inspired Springsteen and where hip-hop is most potent today
The best books on Charles de Gaulle’s Place in French Culture, recommended by Sudhir Hazareesingh
Hazareesingh’s book choices include de Gaulle’s “very readable” war diaries. In books of condolences after the leader’s death, people wrote things like, “Goodbye Charles, you were greater than Napoleon”
The best books on The French Resistance, recommended by Jonathan Fenby
The historian and author chooses five books on de Gaulle and the Resistance. He says the British tried to veto de Gaulle’s famous 1940 speech from London calling on the French to stand up to German occupation
The best books on The Troubles, recommended by Timothy Knatchbull
In August 1979, Timothy Knatchbull and his family went out in a boat off the coast of Ireland. Neither his grandparents or his twin brother would return from the IRA bomb attack that shocked Britain and the world. Here he talks about books that helped him better understand ‘the Troubles,’ and his own book, From a Clear Blue Sky, about his own journey to come to terms with that happened that bank holiday weekend.
The best books on The Cultural Revolution, recommended by Roderick MacFarquhar
Countries do have to come to terms with their own history, and it’s unhealthy that China has not yet come to terms with the Cultural Revolution, argues the West’s leading scholar of the period, Roderick MacFarquhar. He chooses the best five books on the Cultural Revolution.
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Riot! Civil Insurrection From Peterloo to the Present Day
by Ian Hernon -
2
The Policing of Transnational Protest
by Donatella della Porta, Abby Peterson, Herbert Reiter -
3
Football Hooliganism, Policing and the War on the English Disease
by Dr Clifford Stott and Dr Geoff Pearson -
4
Riotous Citizens
by Paul Bagguley, Yasmin Hussain -
5
Liberty and Order
by P A J Waddington
The best books on Policing Public Disorder, recommended by David Waddington
The best books on Policing Public Disorder, recommended by David Waddington
Professor David Waddington tells us why riots are neither irrational nor mere hooliganism, and says the approach police take is critical in determining how a protest develops
The best books on The Mau Mau Uprising and The Fading Empire, recommended by Adam Foulds
British novelist and poet Adam Foulds discusses fading empire in the context of Kenya, including the horrors of British gulags, the Mau Mau uprising, and the social deprivation endured by the Kikuyu.
The best books on The Fall of Communism, recommended by Nick Thorpe
Five recommendations from the BBC’s Central Europe correspondent, who witnessed the collapse of Yugoslavia, popular uprisings in Bulgaria and Serbia, and the transformation of non-violent to violent resistance in Kosovo
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History of the French Revolution
by Jules Michelet -
2
The French Revolution
by Hippolyte Taine -
3
Democracy in America
by Alexis de Tocqueville -
4
Reflections on the Revolution in France
by Edmund Burke -
5
The Complete Essays of Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne (trans. by Donald M. Frame) -
6
The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli
The best books on The French Revolution, recommended by Peregrine Worsthorne
The best books on The French Revolution, recommended by Peregrine Worsthorne
For anybody wanting to go into politics a mastery of the French Revolution is an enormous help and a knowledge of history essential, says Peregrine Worsthorne, the columnist and former editor of Britain’s Sunday Telegraph. He recommends the best books on the French Revolution, both for and against.
The best books on Uyghur Nationalism, recommended by Michael Dillon
It’s hard to understand what’s going on in the Xinjiang region of China and the nationalism of the Uyghurs who live there without reading some history. Here Professor Michael Dillon, a historian at King’s College London, suggests books to read on the Uyghurs, focusing in particular on scholars and diplomats whose work gives insight into the period before the Chinese Communist takeover in 1949.
The best books on Popular Protest in China, recommended by Elizabeth Perry
To fully understand unrest in China today you have to go back to the 1930s and the circumstances which led to the Chinese Communist Party taking power, says Harvard political scientist Elizabeth Perry. She recommends the best books on popular protest in China.