The bulk of this book was quite boring with the exception of the last few chapters. Either ways, it was my opportunity to be introduced into the world of Hannah Arendt, the famous German political scientist. The later chapters of the book were so rich in content that it was well worth reading through the two hundred-or-so pages of rubbish.
Arendt carried out an in-debt study of the concept of revolution throughout the American, French, and Russian Revolutions among others. The most interesting aspects of these rebellions are the rise of community-based grassroots organizations constructed by the common citizens in order to provide some sort of "emergency government" during periods of no-government. These organizations were known simply as "town hall meetings" in the American Revolution, "soviets" in the Russian Revolution, and so on. Such a rise of an organic democracy seemed to be a natural companion to the lack of a clear state power during and immediately after revolution.
Unfortunately, processional revolutionaries and other men of power often sweep in to steal victory from the hands of the town hall communities. In America's case, the founding fathers failed to incorporate them into the American political system, replacing them with four-year elections, and so on. In Russia's case, Soviets were cleaned of those who were not Bolsheviks, and in general terms, replaced by a centralized party dictatorship.
Fascinating book, especially if one has often sympathized for the social revolutions of both two centuries ago and those of recent decades.
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