Dimensions
163 x 240 x 45mm
Romantics, Patriots And Revolutionaries 1776-1871
The Enlightenment dislodged Christianity from its central position in the life of European societies. Man's quest for ecstasy and transcendence flooded into areas such as the arts, spawning the Romantic movement. The religious themes dominant in seventeenth century art gave way to political and social ones, and art, literature and music became substitute religions, offering solace and the possibility of attaining the sublime. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century this secular quest for salvation also invaded politics, giving rise to a widespread desire to bring into being ideal communities.
In this outstanding book, Adam Zamoyski traces how worship and dedication originally channelled through the church was refocused on the cause of the people and the nation. This dramatic journey which begins in America in 1776 and goes right up to the last agony of the Paris Commune in 1871 takes in the French revolution, the Irish rebellion, the Polish risings, the war of Greek liberation, the Russian insurrection, Hungarian struggles for freedom, the liberation of South America and the Italian Risogimento.
On this vast canvas Zamoyski combines a wonderfully illuminating and thought-provoking exploration of this fascinating theme with portraits of the key people involved. And at a time when the demise of dominant ideologies has channelled passions and devotions back to the cult of the nation in so many parts of the world, the story told by Zamoyski seems chillingly relevant.
