TOW #4: The Anatomy of Revolution (IRB 1 Part 1)

In 1965, Crane Brinton, an American historian, published the revised and expanded version of his book, The Anatomy of Revolution for historians studying revolution and interested common readers. He examines the American, French, English, and Russian revolutions, analyzing their similarities to determine what makes a “revolution.”

His purpose, as directly stated in the introduction, is to find an “ideal type” for a revolution, though not necessarily what would be typical (Brinton 7). This vague purpose is clarified by the book. In the introduction, he notes that the scientific method of the natural sciences might be applied also to social sciences (Brinton 13). Thus, he is forming a series of hypotheses throughout, such as that revolutions generally begin with an old regime, which is faced with economic, political, and structural weaknesses (chapter 2). He then bolsters this claim with historical proof—ship money for the British, taxation without representation for the Americans, the economic disparity in France, and the financial costs of World War I in Russia display a poor economy as a common precursor—just as a natural scientist would amass experimental data in support of a hypothesis. Having read half of the book, I believe it to be his purpose to set out general parameters for what can be considered a revolution and to establish common characteristics, making his definition like a scientific theory, which is grounded in evidence, but subject to reconsideration and alteration. His logical, experiment-like structure helps him to achieve this goal.

Brinton uses historical quotations as well as detailed research to bolster his claims, with his primary appeal being to ethos. His writing is additionally heavy in metaphors, which makes the somewhat complex subject more logical for a reader to understand. For example, the metaphor for which the book is known is his comparison of a revolution to a fever (Brinton 16). This fever, he claims, is not entirely negative, but rather something that destroys bad germs (old regime), and leaves the organism (nation) stronger and healthier than before. Due to their clarification of the points made by Brinton, the metaphors help him to achieve his purpose.