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The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.4
EAN: 9780060083137
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0060083131
Label: Harper
Manufacturer: Harper
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: September 11, 2007
Publisher: Harper
Release Date: September 11, 2007
Studio: Harper
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Editorial Review:
Fresh and brilliant, this is the book that completely redefines the founding era. As the 1790s began, America was struggling to survive at home and abroad, and the world was gripped by an arc of revolutionary fervor stretching from Philadelphia and Paris to St. Petersburg and Cairo--with fatal results. While a fragile United States teetered on the brink of oblivion, Russia towered as a vast imperial power, the Islamic peoples were gearing for war, and France plunged into monumental revolution. In The Great Upheaval, acclaimed historian Jay Winik masterfully illuminates how their fates combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization and bequeath us the nation--indeed, the world--we've inherited. Below we see a brief taste of the incredible events and people who shaped this most memorable of decades. A Timeline of The Great Upheaval | 1787 | | George Washington and the founders gather in Philadelphia to create the Constitution. Meanwhile, Russia's Empress Catherine the Great prepares her bloody assault on the Islamic Ottoman Empire, thus unleashing the first modern holy war between Islam and Christianity. | | 1789 | | When the Bastille falls, it is a sound heard around the world: George Washington is sent the key to the fortress, while upon the hearing the news, Russians dance in the streets. King Louis XVI asks, "Is this a revolt?" and is told, "No sire, it's a revolution." | | 1791-92 | | Having helped midwife the American rebels to independence, an outraged Catherine seeks to stamp out the French Revolutionary menace. Undaunted, a radicalized France soon declares, "war on the castles, peace on the cottages," triggering a savage world war that lasts 21 years and costs millions of lives. | | |  | | President George Washington | | | 1793 | | George Washington receives Revolutionary France's new envoy, Citizen Genet, who audaciously seeks to foment insurrection at America's borders, pitting American against American. An ocean away, the French king, who had been America's staunchest ally, is beheaded. | | 1794 | | The Whiskey Rebellion begins, threatening civil war in America. To Washington's chagrin, as the Terror heats up in France, the Whiskey Rebels in Pennsylvania carry mock guillotines, shoot up likenesses of George Washington, and threaten to march on Philadelphia. Washington frantically assembles a force larger than used at Yorktown. | | |  | | The excecution of King Louis XVI | | | 1795 | | Catherine's armies carve up the ancient kingdom of Poland, where the rebellion was led by a hero of the American revolution, Thaddeus Kosiusko, sending a dire signal to the infant American Republic about the perils of military weakness. | | 1797-98 | | As Napoleon's armies ominously devour Europe "leaf by leaf," president John Adams fears the young republic will be invaded next. With war fever gripping the country, the administration harshly represses civil liberties. | | 1800 | | In the most contested election in U.S. history, military forces are mobilized and the nation again hangs on the precipice of civil war. But unlike in France and Russia, America manages an unprecedented first--a peaceful transfer of power between antagonists, making Thomas Jefferson America's third president. | | |  | | Empress Catherine the Great | |
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 revolution. But in contrast to the way conventional histories tell it, none of these remarkable events occurred in isolation. Now, for the first time, in The Great Upheaval, acclaimed historian Jay Winik masterfully illuminates how their fates combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization.
In this sweeping, magisterial drama, 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 top-pling 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 to walk upon the world stage: Washington and Jefferson, Louis XVI and Robespierre, Catherine the Great, Adams, Napoleon, and Selim III. With powerful echoes for understanding the international chaos that confronts the globe today, we see them all fighting desperately for the ideals they believed in, whether man-made democracy or divinely inspired autocracy, whether republicanism or Allah's law.
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.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - too much france
The first and last parts of the book (CD in my case) were quite interesting, and touched on issues seldom viewed. However, this history of the beginning of the US spent too much (4 of the 9 CDs) on the details of the life of Louis XVI. While the travails of Ann Bolyn (hour by hour leading to her death) are interesting, it really did not fit with the title and subject.
The part of the French era that was interesting was a discussion the time spent by the founding fathers (Jefferson in ... Read More
Rating: - Few Bright Spots, Rippingly Uneven
The premise is a good one, but it's not even not delivered on, it's like the author forgot about it, until he needed a sequeway into one of the parallel stories. Whole sections seem to end up left short of the altar, especially, for instance, the business about Russia under Catherine. Then the French Revolution is given a hugely inordinate amount of time and made into a strangely sentimental sendup that tries hard to create drama. Yet, somehow, it never really comes off. Read any William Manchester ... Read More
Rating: - One star as history, 5 stars as drinking game
I wanted and expected to like this book. Instead I find myself pondering if this is possibly the worst non-fiction book by a major publishing house that I've ever read. It's certainly the most disappointing.
To be fair, Jay Winik's thesis - how the events of the late 18th century formed the modern world - puts him in comparison to several truly great books. Schama's Citizens, Zamoyski's Holy Madness, Ellis' Founding Brothers, even Johnson' Birth of the Modern, to name a few. Comparison ... Read More
Rating:  - Great History Book!
This book is one of the most enjoyable books you'll read about events during the American revolutionary period. I found the interwoven stories associated with events in France and Russia to be riveting. For those (like me) that were aware of the happenings in France and Russia, but were ignorant to the impact on the American revolution (like me), you'll really enjoy The Great Upheaval. For a history book that often reads like a novel, this book is for you!
Rating: - A fine book with flaws
I rather agree with the positive reviewers and the negative ones, though I feel the positive very much outweighs the negative. The writing is generally lively and vivid, there is an abundance of fascinating detail, and many famous scenes are brought to life. This is a comprehensive but comprehensible overview of a major turning point in world history. The innovation of passing back and forth among the U.S., France, and Russia to show their mutual impact offers great insight: John Paul Jones commanding ... Read More
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