Customer Reviews

Blood of Revolution: From the Reign of Terror to the Rise of Khomeini

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Erik Durschmied is one of those authors who provokes passionate views among his critics and a certain enthusiasm among his fans. I happen to like his books, though I can understand why others might disagree.

First, the strong points of "Blood of Revolution": Durschmied knows how to tell an exciting story, and he has picked some dramatic tales to work with. Some are well known: the climax of the French Revolution in 1792; the Russian Revolution of 1917; the plot to kill Hitler, which nearly succeeded in July 1944; the palace coups that tried to prevent Japanese Emperor Hirohito from broadcasting the order that ended World War II; and the revolution in Iran, which brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power and led to an international crisis in which 52 Americans were held hostage.

Other events are a little more obscure, at least to me: the martyrdom of the Tyrolean folk hero Andreas Hofer in 1809; the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1919; the Spartcisit revolution in post-World War I Germany; and the capture and execution of Che Guevara in Bolvia in 1967.

Each of these stories is told with gusto. The people involved are cruel or kind, cowardly or bold, wise or foolish, without a lot of shading in between. The prose is often a bit lurid--Durschmied seems to be in love with all of the adjectives that Hemingway did without. And the author is always very certain of himself, which makes me a bit suspicious about his conclusions.

Although Durchmied has a vigorous writing style, it has some quirks that have irritated other reviewers. Keep in mind that the author is an Austrian-born journalist who emigrated to Canada during World War II and now lives in Paris and Provence--that's enough language experience to play havoc with anyone's syntax. As for me, his style kept me turning the pages (though I admit to wincing a few times).

If you're looking for a sober, scholarly history, this book probably isn't for you. And if you are already familiar with the events that Durschmied describes (as I was with the fall of Japan), you aren't going to learn a lot that's new. But if you think you would enjoy a quick and passionate survey of some interesting historical events, this book and its predecessors "The Hinge Factor" and "The Weather Factor" are definitely worth picking up.

And, for the Durschmied fan, here's a tip: for some reason or other, Durschmied's books appear in the United Kingdom about a year before they arrive in the United States. "Blood of Revolution," for instance, was published in February 2001 under the title "Whisper of the Blade" (see what I mean about melodrama?). And Durschmied just published "The Hinges of Battle: How Chance and Incompetence Have Changed the Face of History," which can be found on Amazon's UK site--I already have my copy in hand.

The Who's famous lyric from "Won't Get Fooled Again" is an apt beginning for a review of this very interesting and gripping book - definitely NOT one for the squeamish.

When I was much younger and read the "Classics Illustrated" "history" of the French Revolution, I had some admiration for those who, inflammed by the poverty of the French masses and sickened by the avarice and capriciousness of Louis and Marie Antoinette, led the people in open revolt. Over the years, I began to learn that Robespierre was nothing more that a self-righteous, bloodthirsty rodent, and that Danton, with all of his high words, and Marat of the skin disease and good words were no better - and essentially evil cowards. While Louis and Marie were stupid and greedy, they died game -and certainly did not deserve their fates, nor did their son, whom was torn from his gullotined mother to die half-insane at 10 in a rat-infested cell.

In France, the Revolution eventually devoured its own, but NOT until thousands were raped, robbed, and slaughtered for being middle class or not wishing to be part of the blood crazed mobs -Marat was killed in his cesspool bath by the woman who was the real heroine of the Revolution, Charlotte Corday; Danton denounced by Robespierre, and finally Robespierre and his drunk, debauched minions hunted down by other revolutionaries who feared for their own lives...and enter Napoleon Bonaparte.

Durschmied's main point is that revolutions begin often enough as a slapstick affair, but the will to put them down is usually not there. In the end, the revolution usually will devour its own.

The author writes in a European narrative style that can be a bit complicated for the American reader, and I'm not sure if the decision by the Japanese Generals to rise against their Emperor in 1945 could be considered a Revolution. But he does write full narratives of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, and shows how even those considered to be heroes, Villa and Zapata, were also bloodthirsty cowards and bandits who'd dragged the Chinese population through the streets of their village because one of their stupid lieutenants died of too much alcohol consumption in a Chinese restaurant. The Russian Revolution is covered in a concise but well-written detail. He writes of how in Germany Rosa Luxemborg and Karl Liebeknecht over-estimated the rise of reactionary forces following the First World War, and paid for it with their lives; and how, in one of the most illuminating chapters, shows how Che Guevara was sold out, not by the American Imperialists, but by his own Revolutionary brother, the pompous, pathetic Fidel Castro, because Che was a true revolutionary, and more of a Trotskyite and Anarchist than the guy who sold his soul to Soviet Communism. Fidel feared Che, especially after Guevara openly denounced the Soviets, and chose to send him to a Bolivia where as poor as the people were, they were anything but ripe for revolution.

The final chapter mirrors the first one - it shows how the Shah of Iran could have put down the Khomeinist revolt as easily as Louis, if he had been a strong ruler, could have blunted the French Revolution through a combination of reform - and using the revolutionary method of brute force. The Shah, wracked by illness and by the cowardice of Jimmy Carter, chose to let the Khomeinists take to the streets, with their revolution destroying a stable, prosperous Iran, and may, thanks to Khomeini's successors, may eventually see a destroyed Iran.

The book was written before 9/11, but it might have been interesting to see how the author described Bin Laden, another bloodthirsty coward and his coterie of cowards, outlaws, babykillers, and scum known as Al Qaeda. Or how we in the Western Democracies,lacking the will to decisively take on this brigands and thugs behave just as the hapless Louis and Marie, the hapless Kerensky, and the hapless Shah did, just wringing our hands over the treatment of killers at Abu Gharib and Git'mo, or foolishly debating whether or not those babykillers who kill Jews and Christians for the sake of their brand of Islamofascism should be treated as prisoners-of-war. Instead of spraying their barbaric and butchering corpses with Bacon fat, and feeding the live roaches the same. We behave, as Louis and Marie and the Shah did at our own peril.

Time for an update?

The theme of Durschmied's history is fairly mundane and straightforward -- with the largely singular exception of the American Revolution, revolutions and "progressive" revolutionaries more often than not create leadership that is more brutal than the old order. One would think that this theme is a truism until one observes so many young supporters of e.g. Che, Lenin, or Castro, either out of sheer ignorance or willful denial. For this reason "Blood of Revolution" has redeeming value, especially since it is readable and overwhelmingly accurate.

Durschmied covers, in order, The Jacobin Terror, The Mexican Revolution, The Russian Revolution, the Spartakus revolution of German socialists, the plot to assassinate Hitler, the plot to "save" Hirohito and forcibly prevent armistice, and the Iranian Revolution. In all cases he manages to maintain interest and make his case well. For example, Pancho Villa, whose revolutionary mystique made him a Hollywood darling, stopped a train of hundreds of Federales and massacred everyone on board, ordered the disappearance of entire village male populations and permitted rape of the women who remained, and lined up 400 Colorados three-deep to save precious bullets during execution. These are but a few from a vast litany of horrific acts perpetrated during most revolutions.

The narrative is quite interesting, particularly the background to the Mexican and Iranian Revolutions. At times however, it seems Durschmied is at loss for a segue between episodes and attempts to link them with the rather awkward "And then...".

Another problem is basic omission of worthy candidates for revolutionary terror. Instead of narrating the plot to assassinate Hitler by Colonel Stauffenberg, Durschmied would have done better to focus on the Nazi Party's rise and ultimate seizure of the Reichstag. Durschmied similarly ignores the rise and victory of Mao's Communists in China which resulted in the Cultural Revolution.

Perhaps the most irritating of the flaws is the sometimes dubious historical analysis. For example, Durschmied contends that Wilson erred by interfering in the Mexican power struggle. Why? Because it provided Germany a political entry point from which to encourage Mexico to attack the US during WWI, thereby involving the US in the world conflict after the interception of the "Zimmerman Telegram". One would think, judging from his reasoning, that Durschmied must think it a bad thing for the US to have entered WWI, when on the contrary it encouraged a speedier armistice and saved the allies. It still could be the case that US interference in Mexico was counter-productive, but not for the simplistic and basically wrong-headed rationale given by the author.

Despite these problems, "The Blood of Revolution" is a worthwhile and often gripping account of revolutionary terror from a good sampling of revolutions. Not only accurate but a good read, Durschmied's account is the perfect gift for today's misty-eyed radical in his Che Guevara t-shirt.

The "Whisper of the Blade" (The UK/ Canada title for this book) should serve as a cold shower for all of those who believe that revolutionary thought, processes or actions have ever added anything positive to the world. Healthy youth demands idealism (indeed one could say that a neo-conservative youth is by definition dysfunctional), but age and wisdome demands that cooler heads prevail and that the past serve as a guide to incremental change. When it does not, then the world goes out of whack very quickly and people get killed in ever increasing amounts as people try to pound people to fit their historical theories. Whether they be the forces of the French Revolution or those of Che Gueverra, they usually lead to the wholesale abuse of people and mass murder.

It is this phenomemon that Durkschmied convey with great brilliance. As a youthful journalist he felt the allure of revolutionary politics. In later days after reporting over 4 decades he has come to see the boneyard that revolutionary ideals has heaped upon man in the 20th Century and their sometimes equally bloody reactionary backlash.

The historical detail starts with the watchmaker King Louis XVI and his inability to change in any way to alleviate the suffering of his people early until it was too late. Even at the end when a little "whiff of grapeshot" and a reform policy would have staved off revolution, he ordered the Swiss Guard to lay down weapons to be torn to pieces by the French Mob.

Equal tragedies such as the Spartikist Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, the last days of Che Gueverra, and the reactionay palace coup of the Japanese militarists and the courageous, yet fruitless resistence of the anti-Nazi forces in July 44 are all well documented.

All of these events have been better written about by other academics and mass narrative historians. The real difference is that Durkschmeid is really looking for a time, sequence, event and decision, where the success or failure of a revolution or coup either failed or was made succeesful. In the French Revolution he does isolate the key role of the Swiss Guard. Frankly speaking, I think that Durkschmeid may be cutting history to fit his own personal dimensions. I really don't care. The narrative is so exciting.

How exciting? I carried this book on an ice-climbing expedition and could not wait until we finished the route and returned to the tent.... there, dog-tired, I ploughed through another 50 pages until my eyelids slipped and the adventure would be continued on the morrow.

(...)

Historical texts, eyewitness accounts, and analysis blend in Blood Of Revolution, a survey of a range of revolutions and revolts, from the French revolution to those in the Middle East and Cuba. Each revolution has its own dynamic and cast of characters but all result in betrayal, glory and death. A fascinating survey of world revolutionary influences.

I read the "WHISPER OF BLADES" which is the U.K / EU version of this book.
I guees the most true and interesting sentance of the book on every chapter. The KING asked the adviser " WHY A REVOLUTION IS HAPPENING ON MY WATCH " adviser answers " YOU BROUGHTED ON YOUR SELF ".