We Cannot Escape History

Neil Davidson: Neil Davidson is the author of The Origins of Scottish Nationhood (2000), Discovering the Scottish Revolution (2003), for which he was awarded the Deutscher Prize, and How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? (2012). Davidson lectures in Sociology in the School of Political and Social Science at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Praise for How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?:"I was frankly pole-axed by this magnificent book. Davidson resets the entire debate on the character of revolutions: bourgeois, democratic, and socialist. He's sending me, at least, back to the library."—Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums"This is, quite simply, the finest book of its kind."—Tony McKenna, Marx and Philosophy Review of BooksPraise for Holding Fast to an Image of the Past: Essays on Marxism and History:This is Neil Davidson at his very best. In a sparkling set of essays, Davidson offers a conceptually sophisticated and historically wide-ranging analysis of the work of classical and contemporary political thinkers. . . . In terms of its depth of learning it stands in comparison with Perry Anderson's Zone of Engagement. An essential read.—Satnam Virdee, professor of Sociology at the University of GlasgowHolding Fast to an Image of the Past is illuminating, authoritative, and sometimes very funny . . . this new collection fruitfully combines wide-ranging erudition with vivid vignettes."—Bridget Fowler, emeritus professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow

• We Cannot Escape History: Nations, States and RevolutionsPart 1:Nations and States1.The Trouble with ‘Ethnicity’2.What is National Consciousness?3.From National Consciousness to Nation-states4.Two Replies to John Foster:Stalinism, ‘Nation Theory’, and Scottish History The Public Memoirs and Confessions of an Unconscious Weberian5.The Necessity of Multiple Nation-States for Capital [incorporating 'Many Capitals. Many States']Part 2:States and Revolutions 6.Asiatic, Tributary or Absolutist? 7.Centuries of Transition8. How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions? 9.When History Failed to Turn 10. The French Revolution is Not Over 11.Scotland: Birthplace of Passive Revolution?12. The American Civil War Considered as a Bourgeois Revolution 13Revolutions in Theory and History: a Reply to Alex Callinicos and Donny Gluckstein