Revolutionary Spring: Fighting for a New World - Fighting for a New World 1848-1849

''One of the best history books you will read this decade'' History Today

''Fascinating, suspenseful, revelatory, alive'' The Times

*An exhilarating reappraisal of one of the most dramatic years in European history, from the acclaimed author of The Sleepwalkers*

There can be few more exciting or frightening moments in European history than the spring of 1848. Almost as if by magic, in city after city, from Palermo to Paris to Venice, huge crowds gathered, sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent, and the political order that had held sway since the defeat of Napoleon simply collapsed.

Christopher Clark''s spectacular new book recreates with verve, wit and insight this extraordinary period. Some rulers gave up at once, others fought bitterly, but everywhere new politicians, beliefs and expectations surged forward. The role of women in society, the end of slavery, the right to work, national independence and the final eman