An analysis of the revolutions in Mexico, Russia, China, Vietnam, Algeria, and Cuba in the first half of the twentieth century.

The author approaches the subject from an anthropological perspective, seeking to analyze the social forces and groups that contributed to the development and outcome of each revolution. The result can be termed a "non-Marxist class analysis" of these historical events. The conclusion suggests that the fundamental cause of these upheavals was ultimately a peasant reaction to the radical social changes brought by the spread of North Atlantic capitalism and the commodification of land, labor, and money.

One minor complaint I had with this book was that the author assumes the reader is familiar with the events of each revolution, and spends hardly any time describing the wars themselves, devoting almost all the space in each chapter to describing the context in which each one occurred. As a "casual" reader I would have preferred a little more description of how each conflict actually unfolded.

Overall, this book provided an interesting and insightful examination of this unprecedented period of history. ( )

Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century studies revolutions in Mexico, Russia, China, Vietnam, Algeria, and Cuba in an effort to formulate some opinion about the origins and effects of peasant uprising. Published in 1969 and written by a professor, Eric R. Wolf, who was admitedly part of the teach-in movement protesting the war in Vietnam, the book could be expected to have a radical feel to it. Any such expectations are firmly off the mark. Through extensive research and analysis, all of these rebellions are put into historical context, with an examination of population, socio-ecionomic strata, political perspective, religious movments, etc. With such exhaustive detail, the case studies end up functioning more as an historical abstract for each country.

Though the title of the book might suggest some Marxist or socialist conclusion in the making, the history of these events are not so easily pigeon-holed. Ultimately, Wolf sees the history of these countries largely in the context of major social dislocation, set in motion by wholesale societal change towards industrialization and capitalism. Each country is seen to move more and more towards a perspective of viewing people and land as individual commodities rather than as community wide resources. Such a persxpective resulted in the breaking of more traditional social ties in favor of individual economic interests.

This is an interesting and thought provoking book. Though, be warned, this is not an easy read by any means. Wolf's training as an anthropoligist and his bent for statistics often make for a dense read. But, even for the casual history buff, each chapter offers unique insight into the history of a nation.

Recommended for anyone with an interest in cultural studies or history.

3 1/2 bones!!! ( )