The origin of capitalism and modern industrialism—and, not unrelated, the birthplace of Marxism—modern Europe provided the perfect conditions for a great number of political revolutions. From the monarchical terror of the Middle Ages to the mangled Europe of the twenty-first century, A People’s History of Modern Europe tracks the history of the continent through the deeds of those whom mainstream history tries to forget.
 
Along the way, William A. Pelz examines the German peasant wars of Thomas Müntzer, the bourgeoisie revolutions of the eighteenth century, the rise of the industrial worker in England, the turbulent journey of the Russian Soviets, the role of the European working class throughout the Cold War, and the revolutionary students in 1968. He then brings his story to the present day, where we continue to fight to forge an alternative to a heartless and often barbaric economic system. 
 
As Germany and Greece argue over who owes what, with the very idea of Europe crumbling around them, Pelz’s accessible, provocative history could not be timelier. Sure to resonate with fans of books like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, this people’s history sweeps away the tired platitudes of the privileged and provides an opportunity to understand the story of Europe from the ground up.

In October 1918, war-weary German sailors mutinied rather than engage in one final, fruitless battle with the British Royal Navy. That revolt, coming as World War I slowly ended, quickly became far bigger, erupting into a full-scale revolution that toppled the monarchy and inaugurated a brief period of radical popular democracy. This book tells that mostly forgotten story, going beyond the handful of familiar names such as Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht to present the revolution from the bottom up. Through stories of the actions of rank-and-file activists and ordinary workers, Willam A. Pelz builds a compelling case that, for a brief period, the actions of the common people shaped a truly revolutionary society.