Anatomy of a Revolution; The Beginnings of Actual Revolution
Description:
When does a revolution begin? The moment of crisis is often recognizable; for instance, crises were apparent when Charles I of England invaded the House of Commons to arrest some of its members, and when a mob stormed the Bastille. But do these explosions occur spontaneously? Or are they planned? The greater part of this program is devoted to analyzing the relation between conspirators - who may direct the course of action - and the masses of people who have a real grievance but may not be aware of a remedy. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) An apt description was prepared by the man who wrote this series Crane Brinton, professor of history at Harvard University. Said Professor Brinton: I am anxious not only to present the drama and human interest of revolutions, which I think the visual materials will make fairly easy, but I also want to have the audience think about these problems: how revolutions come about, what they really achieve, in what ways revolutions are in terms of social psychology pathological or at least abnormal, how it may be possible to achieve necessary social, political, economic changes without the worst phases of revolution. Professor Brinton deals with his topics analytically, dissecting revolutions not by period but by theme, aim, method, success, weakness, or failure. Each episode is enhanced and vividly illustrated by visuals film clips, photographs, cartoons and portraits. The 15 half-hour episodes that comprise this series were originally recorded on videotape. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
