Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots, and Revolutionaries, 1776-1871

Hailed as a "a dashing account of the romantic movement & bold narrative history at its best" (Michael Ignatieff, The Observer), Holy Madness is a sweeping, graceful portrait of one extraordinary century that changed the face of the world. From the first shots of the American Revolution in 1776 to the last agony of the Paris Commune in 1871, Adam Zamoyski elegantly captures the romantics & revolutionaries who were willing to die for the cause of an idealized nation & who transformed the society of Europe & its colonies. Holy Madness provides not only a fluid history of the tumultuous years that embraced the American & French revolutions, the Irish Rebellion, the Polish uprisings, the liberation of South America, & the Italian Risorgimento, it also probes the spiritual & emotional forces responsible for the founding events of the modern world. Zamoyski also captures the passionate revolutionary figures Lafayette, Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, Bolivar, Rousseau, & countless others who were caught up in the fervor of the nationalist crusade. As the cult of the nation rises again around the world, Holy Madness is a magnificent & riveting history that takes on chilling relevance in today's society.Zamoyski, Adam is the author of 'Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots, and Revolutionaries, 1776-1871' with ISBN 9780670892716 and ISBN 0670892718.