Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle Reading App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
$42.45
FREE Shipping.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
Frequently Bought Together
{"currencyCode":"USD","itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":42.45,"ASIN":"0765804719","moqNum":1,"isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":36.1,"ASIN":"094500110X","moqNum":1,"isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"0765804719::JtMidVQgWh%2BI4grzgtlBoMrjwpkRHhXeWxe%2BAUW%2BqZIupKJcmHDdNtnYEzMDTL88J8wgIA0R8RsB2z%2BVddi%2FnCTZlg%2B77tw%2ByxDmy8w5i5A%3D,094500110X::DLroWLkvjU8d9sRjyIepE7nL04X5WNvfFX6123WgsZTikS1Je8Cxg3GrM7GnZXAlujVx%2FRkCPDI76i8StJMwmrmnMB0U7beb0M0vSTS3nG8%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"shippingDetails":{"xy":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z","w"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["Add to Wish List","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List","Add all four to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart","Add all four to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:","Price For All Four:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items","Pre-order all four items"]}}
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
James H. Billington is currently the Librarian of Congress. Before that, he served as director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has been a leading figure in American academic exchange programs, and served as past chairman of the Board of Foreign Scholarship, which directs the Fulbright Program. He is author of Mikhailovsky and Russian Populism and The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture.
Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.
Anyone who reads this and is still a bit unsure should read Yevgeny Zamyatin's book WE and Djilas' The New Class. If they are looking for the philosophical approach to the book, they should read Voegelin and any of his works that deal with the philosophical underpinning of what Billington is addressing in this fantastic work. Billington is a Rhodes Scholar. He is a visiting Professor to Harvard and Princeton. His works on Russia are definitive. This book being his best, is his dedication to Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground and Demons. It is scary and brilliant. It answers the question of the two opposing "secret" warring groups one the proponents of freewill the others proponents of the collective and or the secular super powerful state. All this and according to Billington's work, the most startling aspect, is that journalists are the very agents of this revolutionary activity. Puts a very scientism spin on things like global warming and afro-centrism.
1 Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
32 of 39 people found the following review helpful
This is one of the great history books of our time.
Billington provides a comprehensive account of the revolutionary obsession from the 18th until the 20th century. He examines in particular national and socialist revolution and the cast of sometimes bizarre characters, cults and conspiracies that peppered these movements.
Beautifully written, it is a joy to read. Billington treats his subject matter with empathy but is by no means a revolutionist himself.
Gibbon's "Decline aand Fall of the Roman Empire" is still being read today more than three centuries after it was penned. Billington's book will be a must read centuries from now too.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
18 of 24 people found the following review helpful
This is another MUST read for ALL AMERICANS or any serious minded student of history,professional or not.Mr.Billington,who I believe is still head of the Library of Congress(though he MAY have recently retired)was appointted,to that position by Reagan, explores the role secret societies have played in revolutionary movements since the time of the AMERICAN/FRENCH revolution to the RUSSIAN revolution.It MAY change your view on "How the World Really Works.I stole that lasy phrase from the late Mr.Wanniski-a conservative.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Why isn't this available for my Kindle Paperwhite? I see it available on Google eBooks for $31.95 so am requesting Amazon get this for their Kindle customers. I'd place the request to Amazon but see no place to do that.
1 Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
When this book first came out , it got attention from the get go. This is one of the greatest history books ever written. If you were only going to read 25 books to become educated: this would be on the list. With footnotes in 7 languages this path breaking book looks at the origins of the revolutionary faith. James Billington 's thesis is original. He deals with the occult. Currently , Billington is the Librarian of Congress.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith
