Fighting for a New World 1848-49 – Cambridge Literary Festival

This event is part of the Cambridge Literary Festival.

‘People embraced each other, shook hands, joy radiated from every eye, there was no limit to the celebrations…’ 

There can be few more exhilarating or frightening moments in European history than the spring of 1848. Almost as if by magic, in city after city, from Palermo to Paris to Venice, huge crowds gathered, sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent, and the political order that had held sway since the defeat of Napoleon simply collapsed.

Christopher Clark FBA shares his new book, Revolutionary Spring, Fighting for a New World 1848-49, that recreates with verve, wit and insight this extraordinary period. Some rulers gave up at once, others fought bitterly, but everywhere new politicians, beliefs and expectations surged forward.

Speaker: Christopher Clark FBA, Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge