Holy Madness

Holy Madness examines the emotional, cultural and quasi-religious forces that animated revolutionary and nationalist movements from the late eighteenth century to the Paris Commune. Adam Zamoyski connects political upheaval with Romantic ideas about nation, sacrifice and martyrdom, moving from the American and French revolutions through Greece, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Russia and other theatres of rebellion.

The book argues that revolution cannot be explained solely through economic or social grievance and gives substantial attention to writers, artists, soldiers and political activists who transformed patriotic causes into objects of devotion. Napoleon appears among a much larger cast that includes figures such as Lafayette, Garibaldi, Mazzini and Byron. It is nonfiction cultural and political history.