The concept and reality of revolution has gripped the imaginationof many writers over the centuries. This is a comprehensivehistorical examination of these key ideas and theories. Kimmel looks at the writings of Marx, Weber, Tocqueville, Freud,and Durkheim, asking how their theories were affected by thereality of living through the revolutions of 1848 and 1917. Kimmelthen examines the interpretations of revolution offered by socialscientists in the post World War II period, including ThedaSkocpol, Barrington Moore and Charles Tilly, among others. The workis brought fully up-to-date with current analyses of theNicaraguan, Iranian and Angolan revolutions.