To Begin the World Over Again: How the American Revolution Devastated the Globe

by Matthew Lockwood

Overview

The first exploration of the profound and often catastrophic impact the American Revolution had on the rest of the world

While the American Revolution led to domestic peace and liberty, it ultimately had a catastrophic global impact—it strengthened the British Empire and led to widespread persecution and duress. From the opium wars in China to anti-imperial rebellions in Peru to the colonization of Australia—the inspirational impact the American success had on fringe uprisings was outweighed by the influence it had on the tightening fists of oppressive world powers.

Here Matthew Lockwood presents, in vivid detail, the neglected story of this unintended revolution. It sowed the seeds of collapse for the preeminent empires of the early modern era, setting the stage for the global domination of Britain, Russia, and the United States. Lockwood illuminates the forgotten stories and experiences of the communities and individuals who adapted to this new world in which the global balance of power had been drastically altered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300232257
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	1,105,606
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 2.00(d)

About the Author

Matthew Lockwood is assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama and the author of The Conquest of Death: Violence and the Birth of the Modern English State.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgments x

Introduction: The World the American Revolution Made 1

1 The Revolution Comes to Britain 11

2 Treason, Terror, and Reaction 38

3 Revolution, Reaction, and Sectarianism in Ireland 83

4 Horatio Nelson and the Imperial Struggle in Spanish America 125

5 Revolt and Revolution in the Spanish Empire 152

6 European Weakness and the Russian Conquest of the Crimea 179

7 Conflict and Captivity in India 235

8 The Birth of British India 274

9 Convict Empire 314

10 Exiles of Revolution 356

11 Africa, Abolition, and Empire 381

12 Opium and Empire 428

13 The Dawn of the Century of Humiliation 454

Notes 481

Select Bibliography 499

Index 507

Editorial Reviews

In his colorful and ambitious new transnational history, Matthew Lockwood…is interested in how the ripples caused by the American Revolution affected everywhere outside the modern United States. The narrative hops from Britain and Ireland to the Spanish Empire, Russia, India, Australia, Africa and China, with a glittering cast of historical characters…

The New York Times Book Review - Alex von Tunzelmann

08/26/2019

University of Alabama history professor Lockwood (The Conquest of Death) places the Revolutionary War in truly global historical context. He judiciously integrates economic, political, social, and legal developments across multiple locations (with convincing sections on the conflict’s aftermath in Russia, India, Africa, China, and the South Pacific) and focuses his exhaustive research on archives that include the underreported “voices of the poor, the struggles and triumphs of the common man and woman.” This enables him to humanize an epic story; for example, the revolution’s effects in Peru are conveyed through the experiences of Micaela Bastidas, who led a failed revolt against the Spanish Empire. Lockwood also makes connections that will be new even to readers knowledgeable about Revolutionary War history: for instance, readers may remember that Australia became a dumping ground for transported British convicts after the 13 colonies were no longer an option, but Lockwood argues that the number of convicts increased because of the growth of a criminal underclass caused by the war. Readers may be skeptical of Lockwood’s implication that certain developments, such as South American colonies’s struggles to gain independence, might not have happened without the American Revolution. Nonetheless, this is a breakthrough popular history, written with a novelist’s eye for detail and atmosphere. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Lockwood . . . has a keen eye for a good yarn, and there are enthralling glimpses here of individual lives buffeted by the American Revolution.”—Alex von Tunzelmann, New York Times Book Review

“A breakthrough popular history, written with a novelist’s eye for detail and atmosphere.”—Publishers Weekly

“This is a history of the American Revolution unlike any other. As eventful and atmospheric as a novel, with a vast cast of characters drawn from all echelons of life and all parts of the globe, it is an evocative, exhaustive and ultimately involving analysis of how the Revolution changed the face of the world.”—All About History

“Impressive rigour of exposition”—Dr Ben Marsh, AC Review of Books

“A stunning narrative about the violent aftershocks of the American Revolution.  Lockwood shows how the American revolution set off a global war in its own image that carried revolutionary violence and imperial repression not only to Europe but also to South America, India, Australia and Africa. His book movingly portrays the consequences for indigenous and subject peoples all over the globe, including those in the new United States.”—Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats

“Matthew Lockwood is a master story-teller, deftly showcasing the lives of ordinary people alongside the impact of historical ideas and events. To Begin the World Over Again is enthralling, provocative, and wonderfully enlightening.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana

"It has seemed to each generation that the no more can be said about the American Revolution; and then along comes a book like this, to tell us we have been looking in the wrong places."—Robert J. Allison, author of The American Revolution

“A major contribution to our understanding of the American Revolution. Lockwood demonstrates that American independence had global ramifications. He does so with an eye for telling detail and graceful prose and deserves a wide audience of specialists and general readers.”—Francis D. Cogliano, author of Thomas Jefferson

“In an apt metaphor, Matthew Lockwood likens the American Revolution to a stone cast into a pond, creating a splash whose ripples radiated outward to shake up the whole world.  In addition to inspiring an "age of democratic revolutions" in France and Latin America, the wartime alliance with France caused a domino effect of warfare between Britain and several European powers that reverberated as far away as India.  And in response to the loss of its American colonies, Britain reorganized and expanded imperial expansion elsewhere until the sun truly did not set on the empire.  Lockwood untangles this complex story in a tour de force of historical scholarship.”—James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom

From the Publisher

Narrator Paul Boehmer guides listeners through this tome of well-documented nonfiction focusing on the long-lasting, worldwide ramifications of the American Revolutionary War. Boehmer is a trained actor, and he leans on those skills here. Because the events of this audiobook take place all around the world and because the book is full of direct quotes, Boehmer must use a variety of accents. He moves in and out of the narration with ease. Listeners will never be uncertain when the words Boehmer is reading are direct quotes from a character or the voice of the author giving context and analysis. Instructors who want students to immerse themselves in history should require this audiobook. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile