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You Say You Want a Revolution?: Radical Idealism and Its Tragic Consequences
Why most modern revolutions have ended in bloodshed and failure―and what lessons they hold for today's world of growing extremism
Why have so many of the iconic revolutions of modern times ended in bloody tragedies? And what lessons can be drawn from these failures today, in a world where political extremism is on the rise and rational reform based on moderation and compromise often seems impossible to achieve? In You Say You Want a Revolution? , Daniel Chirot examines a wide range of right- and left-wing revolutions around the world―from the late eighteenth century to today―to provide important new answers to these critical questions.
From the French Revolution of the eighteenth century to the Mexican, Russian, German, Chinese, anticolonial, and Iranian revolutions of the twentieth, Chirot finds that moderate solutions to serious social, economic, and political problems were overwhelmed by radical ideologies that promised simpler, drastic remedies. But not all revolutions had this outcome. The American Revolution didn't, although its failure to resolve the problem of slavery eventually led to the Civil War, and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was relatively peaceful, except in Yugoslavia. From Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia to Algeria, Angola, Haiti, and Romania, You Say You Want a Revolution? explains why violent radicalism, corruption, and the betrayal of ideals won in so many crucial cases, why it didn't in some others―and what the long-term prospects for major social change are if liberals can't deliver needed reforms.
A powerful account of the unintended consequences of revolutionary change, You Say You Want a Revolution? is filled with critically important lessons for today's liberal democracies struggling with new forms of extremism.
Why have so many of the iconic revolutions of modern times ended in bloody tragedies? And what lessons can be drawn from these failures today, in a world where political extremism is on the rise and rational reform based on moderation and compromise often seems impossible to achieve? In You Say You Want a Revolution? , Daniel Chirot examines a wide range of right- and left-wing revolutions around the world―from the late eighteenth century to today―to provide important new answers to these critical questions.
From the French Revolution of the eighteenth century to the Mexican, Russian, German, Chinese, anticolonial, and Iranian revolutions of the twentieth, Chirot finds that moderate solutions to serious social, economic, and political problems were overwhelmed by radical ideologies that promised simpler, drastic remedies. But not all revolutions had this outcome. The American Revolution didn't, although its failure to resolve the problem of slavery eventually led to the Civil War, and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was relatively peaceful, except in Yugoslavia. From Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia to Algeria, Angola, Haiti, and Romania, You Say You Want a Revolution? explains why violent radicalism, corruption, and the betrayal of ideals won in so many crucial cases, why it didn't in some others―and what the long-term prospects for major social change are if liberals can't deliver needed reforms.
A powerful account of the unintended consequences of revolutionary change, You Say You Want a Revolution? is filled with critically important lessons for today's liberal democracies struggling with new forms of extremism.
192 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2020
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367 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 31, 2020
Excellent history of global revolutions and how this often did not work out well -- though occasionally did.
More importantly, the author offers warnings/conclusions as to what may happen in the near future if the warnings from history are not taken seriously.
Not sure anything can be done though, what with the demographic cliff we're hurtling toward, the end of the American Alliance, the fascist turn in China and Russia, Covid-19, as well as the aggressive de-globalization occurring amongst former allies. Then there is the EU, sigh!!
Great, if harrowing, read. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 5 out of 4 Stars.
More importantly, the author offers warnings/conclusions as to what may happen in the near future if the warnings from history are not taken seriously.
Not sure anything can be done though, what with the demographic cliff we're hurtling toward, the end of the American Alliance, the fascist turn in China and Russia, Covid-19, as well as the aggressive de-globalization occurring amongst former allies. Then there is the EU, sigh!!
Great, if harrowing, read. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 5 out of 4 Stars.
December 25, 2020
I kept reading it off and on, finally finishing this month.
It's a heavy book but enormously revealing. The book can trigger complete U turns in your beliefs and understanding of political revolutions.
Had to go back and forth between chapters as it talks about several revolutions of different times and compares them on various aspects.
The one thing that has stuck to my brain is slow revolutions are more permanent than overnight ones.
I have to read this book again, to retain some of the forgotten initial chapters that appealed at that time so much.
It's a heavy book but enormously revealing. The book can trigger complete U turns in your beliefs and understanding of political revolutions.
Had to go back and forth between chapters as it talks about several revolutions of different times and compares them on various aspects.
The one thing that has stuck to my brain is slow revolutions are more permanent than overnight ones.
I have to read this book again, to retain some of the forgotten initial chapters that appealed at that time so much.
December 8, 2025
ترجمة الكتاب جيدة، ولكن للمترجمان وزرًا عليهما أن يتحملاه، فمقدمتهما للكتاب التي رفعت من شأنه إلى درجة أن أرادت أن تساوي بأعمال بارينغتون مور وبرينتون -وهما أصلًا مؤلفان عليهما الكثير من التعليقات وبحكم الزمن تقادمت أعمالهما- جعل التوقعات عالية بشأن قراءة الكتاب، شعرت أنني سأقرأ شيء مماثل لعمل باكستون عن الفاشية مثلًا، في النهاية كان كتاب بدون نظرية، لا أظن أن الكاتب نفسه ارتأى في كتابه طرحًا لنظرية فارقة في العلوم السياسية، مجرد جمع للأرشيف والحوادث الرئيسية للثورات العالمية منذ الثورة الأمريكية إلى ثورة إيران ورومانيا، في قالب مُقارن مُتمكن واعي لما يمكن اختزاله والتخلي عنه في السرد وما يحتاجه لدعم فرضيًّته، في النهاية، يبدو ما في الكتاب حتى وإن جهله القارئ في التاريخ والسياسة باهتمام، مجرد بديهيًّات، ونظرة أنكلوساكسونية معهودة للردايكالية واليوتوبيا الثورية، والتي أتفق معها
October 20, 2025
This books looks at the French, Russian and Iranian revolutions, and the Nazis in Germany, with side ventures into Mexico, China, Cambodia, Italy and others.
Ultimately, it discusses how revolutions were led by moderates, and then the moderates were ousted by the radicals - sometimes violently. The Reign of Terror in France, Stalin's murderous rule in Russia, the students going nuts in Iran and China.
Of course, it's not all left-wingers (though it is mostly them). We get good looks at the Nazis in Germany and Fascists in Italy.
The book doesn't set these up nation by nation, but step by step, his thesis being that the worst of the movements incorporated 4 steps: Radicals come to power, repression begins, radical utopianism takes over, it all slides into corruption.
Thankfully it didn't descend into attaching any of this to the current political situation (he published in 2020), as too many books do these days.
Ultimately, it discusses how revolutions were led by moderates, and then the moderates were ousted by the radicals - sometimes violently. The Reign of Terror in France, Stalin's murderous rule in Russia, the students going nuts in Iran and China.
Of course, it's not all left-wingers (though it is mostly them). We get good looks at the Nazis in Germany and Fascists in Italy.
The book doesn't set these up nation by nation, but step by step, his thesis being that the worst of the movements incorporated 4 steps: Radicals come to power, repression begins, radical utopianism takes over, it all slides into corruption.
Thankfully it didn't descend into attaching any of this to the current political situation (he published in 2020), as too many books do these days.
March 21, 2020
Kig på tværs af revolutioner og på den baggrund analyse og konklusioner. Konklusionerne er ikke vildt overraskende. Men de ting, som ofte beskrives som udslag af personligheder, bliver tydligt netop ikke så meget udtryk for personligheder, når de ses i sammenhæng. Kan godt lide, at revolutionernes konsekvenser trækkes frem i tiden, således at man ser, at selv tilsyneladende gode revolutioner trækker dårlige spor.
Det er en kort og klar bog.
Det er en kort og klar bog.
March 17, 2021
Very thought provoking book. Chirot takes you into the insides of several revolutions over the past few hundred years, looks for trends, and then draws some conclusions. Although I am not well-studied enough to have a good opinion, I appreciate the conclusions presented, and the details given. I hope to go back to this book many more times to study this more in depth.
February 15, 2021
Decent, brisk history of most of the revolutionary movements of the 20th century measured against the French Revolution. Nothing truly groundbreaking but the distilled commonalities provide a good base with which to gauge current events.
September 29, 2024
with the growing unease of American politics, many young people are looking for a violent revolution to change America for the better. this book did a wonderful job of explaining what a revolution could actually look like and its tragic consequences
May 13, 2022
A bit dry and jumps around. Take away: no matter who’s in charge, liberal or conservative….if that person fails to do their job and lead, something bad is bound to happen.
August 9, 2022
This should have been an mid-length article, not a book. Far too many irrelevant details to be useful. Basically, the author could have just made a chart of the various "Tragic" stages (acts) they claim that revolutions fit into, and show which revolution fits in which stage. In its current state, it's very scattered and unhelpful.
And like yeah, we get it, revolutions are bad because it's impossible to predict which direction they'll veer off onto, especially when you get to the inevitable "repression and genocide" stage. Nothing new here. This author badly needs to learn how to summarize and put the excessive details into the footnotes. Yawn.
Literally the only thing I learned from this was why the American "Revolution" was no such thing, it was just a war for independence which included some slight reforms such as the checks and balances in the Constitution. There was nothing revolutionary or radical in what they did. They had modest demands, and they made modest changes after they won the war. It also helps that the US "revolution" actually succeeded without a genocide, as opposed to essentially all other modern revolutions. Oh well, this book just felt a bit too much like confirmation bias than I'd like.
DNF: 50%
And like yeah, we get it, revolutions are bad because it's impossible to predict which direction they'll veer off onto, especially when you get to the inevitable "repression and genocide" stage. Nothing new here. This author badly needs to learn how to summarize and put the excessive details into the footnotes. Yawn.
Literally the only thing I learned from this was why the American "Revolution" was no such thing, it was just a war for independence which included some slight reforms such as the checks and balances in the Constitution. There was nothing revolutionary or radical in what they did. They had modest demands, and they made modest changes after they won the war. It also helps that the US "revolution" actually succeeded without a genocide, as opposed to essentially all other modern revolutions. Oh well, this book just felt a bit too much like confirmation bias than I'd like.
DNF: 50%
Want to read
June 10, 2021I haven't come across a single copy of this book in any local bookstore and the library system doesn't have it, so I figured the audiobook on Hoopla would be just the ticket. I got about a quarter of the way in. The reader speaks in a slow, soothing, robotically precise manner that made it hard to listen to without your mind wandering--or simply getting drowsy. I liked what I heard, but I'm going to have to hold out for actually reading this one in the future.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews