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Gene Sharp: How to Start a Revolution: How to Start a Revolution
Gene Sharp is the world's most celebrated expert in nonviolent revolution. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, his guidebook for revolutionaries has been translated into more than 40 languages, slipped across borders and hidden from secret policemen all over the world. For decades, people who wanted to take down their dictatorship made a pilgrimage to Gene Sharp for help. With access to newly released files from Gene Sharp's archive, How to Start a Revolution reveals the hidden forces behind the headlines - the strategies passed from the jungles of Burma, to the streets of Iran, the Arab Spring and the looming battle to defend democracy in the West. This is the story of the power of people to change their world, the modern revolution and the man behind it all.
- GenresPolitics
384 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2020
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 13, 2020
I'm very familiar with Gene Sharp's life and work, and was surprised by how much I still learned from reading this book. It's also just a fun read that kept me hooked throughout.
Many saw Gene as being shy or even reclusive, but Ruaridh does a fantastic job of showing how engaged he was in the world, and his deep compassion for those struggling against injustice.
He didn't just toil away from the safety and comfort of academia. Instead, he put himself in harms way to further his research and educate those on the frontlines about the mechanics of nonviolent struggle. This led to some incredible moments that are brought to life in the book — like a face-to-face meeting with Yasser Arafat to encourage the PLO to embrace nonviolent resistance, and a visit to interview pro-democracy activists camped out in Tiananmen Square right before the massacre in 1989.
While Gene has had an enormous impact in the world, the book does in my opinion overstate his influence or role in different movements. But given that the book is a biography, that is maybe to be expected. Another thread is a fascinating history of "democracy promotion" efforts by the U.S. government in recent decades. But I worry that it gives the impression that these machinations were more impactful — and connected to Gene Sharp — than they really were. We have to be careful to always keep the spotlight on how ordinary people are the drivers of change, and emphasize that they are not pawns of the United States or any other foreign power.
Despite these concerns, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it, both to those who think they know his story and anyone just coming to it. Gene Sharp is a largely misunderstood and unsung hero, whose work and impact deserve to be better known. And this book is an important contribution to telling his story.
Many saw Gene as being shy or even reclusive, but Ruaridh does a fantastic job of showing how engaged he was in the world, and his deep compassion for those struggling against injustice.
He didn't just toil away from the safety and comfort of academia. Instead, he put himself in harms way to further his research and educate those on the frontlines about the mechanics of nonviolent struggle. This led to some incredible moments that are brought to life in the book — like a face-to-face meeting with Yasser Arafat to encourage the PLO to embrace nonviolent resistance, and a visit to interview pro-democracy activists camped out in Tiananmen Square right before the massacre in 1989.
While Gene has had an enormous impact in the world, the book does in my opinion overstate his influence or role in different movements. But given that the book is a biography, that is maybe to be expected. Another thread is a fascinating history of "democracy promotion" efforts by the U.S. government in recent decades. But I worry that it gives the impression that these machinations were more impactful — and connected to Gene Sharp — than they really were. We have to be careful to always keep the spotlight on how ordinary people are the drivers of change, and emphasize that they are not pawns of the United States or any other foreign power.
Despite these concerns, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it, both to those who think they know his story and anyone just coming to it. Gene Sharp is a largely misunderstood and unsung hero, whose work and impact deserve to be better known. And this book is an important contribution to telling his story.
April 10, 2021
This book shook me to the core.
If dignified freedom and the eternal quest for it means anything to you - and some would argue that the history of writing and publishing books in nearly its entirety happens because of this urge - read it, and read it now.
Meandering masterfully between visually and emotionally captivating insights into the last decades most relevant revolutions, getting to know the person and biography of Dr. Gene Sharp, understanding his main ideas about nonviolent struggle, and all of this well researched and founded in his main characters academic evolvement, this book touched me like few if any others did.
It is just beyond me how it is possible that the fight for freedom - and all the fictional plots around it, maybe most prominently done in the Star Wars saga - is such an enormous mainstream hit yet those people doing that in reality, really working towards freedom for the oppressed, get not only eternally less ink, but somehow, go unnoticed, often.
Why exactly is it that real world Yoda's, like Dr. Gene Sharp, aren't our most celebrated Celebrities? Honestly, I do not understand. Really, it is beyond me.
In short: please read it, and do it now.
If dignified freedom and the eternal quest for it means anything to you - and some would argue that the history of writing and publishing books in nearly its entirety happens because of this urge - read it, and read it now.
Meandering masterfully between visually and emotionally captivating insights into the last decades most relevant revolutions, getting to know the person and biography of Dr. Gene Sharp, understanding his main ideas about nonviolent struggle, and all of this well researched and founded in his main characters academic evolvement, this book touched me like few if any others did.
It is just beyond me how it is possible that the fight for freedom - and all the fictional plots around it, maybe most prominently done in the Star Wars saga - is such an enormous mainstream hit yet those people doing that in reality, really working towards freedom for the oppressed, get not only eternally less ink, but somehow, go unnoticed, often.
Why exactly is it that real world Yoda's, like Dr. Gene Sharp, aren't our most celebrated Celebrities? Honestly, I do not understand. Really, it is beyond me.
In short: please read it, and do it now.
January 27, 2021
Cannot recommend this book enough. It's a fascinating deep dive into global nonviolent revolutions, the biography of Gene Sharp, the impact and global travels of his writings, and the authors own experience in this field, all masterfully woven together in a really gripping and informative narrative. Global in scope and packed full of momentum. Check out the documentary of the same name too!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews