Wim Klooster has written the first comparative study of the American, French, Haitian, and Spanish American revolutions. Although the concept of Atlantic revolutions goes back to the 1950s, neither the field’s pioneers, Jacques Godechot and Robert Palmer, nor later exponents like Peggy Liss and Lester Langley included all four conflicts within their frame of analysis. In less than 180 pages of text, Klooster provides succinct overviews of each in four topical chapters and lays out common themes in a brief introduction and conclusion. The narrative is light on dates, battles, and individuals but is careful to cover questions of race, gender, and ethnicity. It pays particular attention to death tolls and to the social consequences of political decisions. Based on extraordinarily wide reading, it has the makings of a winner in a burgeoning sector of the undergraduate textbook market.
The major themes that the author emphasizes are the role of...
