Re-Imagining Democracy in the Age of Revolutions: America, France, Britain, Ireland, 1750-1850, by Joanna Innes & Mark Philp (eds)

Joanna Innes, Mark Philp, Re-inventing Democracy in the Age of Revolutions: America, France, Britain, Ireland, 1750-1850, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.

This an important book on the origins of our modern democracies. The title says it all: democracy was re-imagined during the Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic world. National contexts interacted with the Atlantic dynamics of revolutions and republicanism — whether it was embraced or fought — to produce a new political regime, which then became a defining feature of the 19th century.

The approach is commendable: three authors explore one country, two at the beginning and at the end of the period, and then one reviews the entire period. The United States, France, Great Britain and Ireland are thus explored. The concluding chapter “Synergies” tries to draw out conclusions.
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