Events Detail

The Great Upheaval, by Jay Winik, examines the last twelve years of the 18th century, an era that redefined history: as the survival of the American republic seemed in doubt, Russia towered as an imperial power, and France plunged into violent revolution. Winik, the noted historian and author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller April 1865: The Month that Changed America, examines this period from a new perspective. Rejecting the conventional histories that separate the fates of these three great nations, The Great Upheaval shows how their fortunes combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization.

In this magisterial work, Winik examines the arc of revolutionary fervor and the deadly clashes of ideologies that defined this age, including the first modern holy war between Islam and a resurgent Christian empire. And here in this book is a rich cast of characters, including: 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.

Michael Barone, author and columnist for US News & World Report, gave the keynote introduction.