New-York tribune., 1921-03-13
Mans Revolt Through the Ages
H. NJ. Hyndrnans World History of Revolution
Modern British Socialism Analysed

THE EVOLUTION OF REVOLUTION. By
II NJ. Hyndman Published by Boni &
Liveright.
A HISTORY OF BRITISH SOCIALISM
BY M Beer. Published by Harcourt
Brace &. Co
[ is only within comparatively re-
cent period that histories have been
written from the standpoint Of the
oppressed and exploited classes. Thu
cydides and Tacitus do not take into
account the feelings and sufferings Of
the Greek and Roman slaves. The
medieval chroniclers have nothing but
contempt for the serfs who bore upon
their shoulders the greater part of the
burden of production during the Middle
Ages. 1t required the germination of
democratic ideas which found such
Revolution, combined with the growth
of modern industrialism and the rise
Of sociology as science, to create a
school of historians who interpret the
records of the past with sympathetic
consideration for the poor, down
trodden, inarticulate masses of the
people.
Revolt From Earliest Times
Mr.. Hyndman undertakes to tell the
story of revolt through the ages. to
trace the evolution of revolutionary
movements from the slave uprisings
OF dim antiquity to the present time.
1t IS thrilling and grandiose subject.
and the author handles it with an mag
NATIVE sweep that sometimes sue-
gests. Mr.. Wells's Outline Of History.
After explaining how primitive COM
munism gave way to . system based
upon slavery and private property. Mr..
Hyndman takes up the social systems
of Greece and Rome, the rise and decay
Of feudalism and the various revolu-
tionary currents Of modern history.
lie also devotes some consideration to
such economic backwaters as China.
where conservative system Of private
land cultivation in small farms has
been practiced for centuries, and Peru,
where a remarkably complete COM
munist regime, under autocratic super
vision, was discovered by the Spanish
cOnquerors
A work like Mr.. Hyndman's is neces-
sarily suggestive rather than exhaust
lvely informative. The author is com
PEELED by limitations Of space to give
only brief chapters to movements
whose complications could scarcely be
adequately analyzed in whole volumes.
Moreover, Mr.. Hyndman is a man of
strong convictions, which occasionally
degenerate into prejudices. In his in
dignatlon at the cruelty and corruption
Of the Roman Empire he fails to do
justice to its truly remarkable achieve
ments IN organization and admins stra-
ton. His chapter on the French Revo-
luton IS disappointing, especially in its
cursory treatment of the events which
followed the seizure of power by the
Jacobins.
On the other hand, he corrects the
excessively high estimate which has
been placed upon the English civil war
and its achievements by historians
actuated by middle-class prejudice. And
his whole historical viewpoint, even
when it is apparently based upon
errors of detail, is characterized by
freshness, vigor and originality. Many
conventional valuations will have to be
modified in the light of his stimulating
Mr.. Beers work is a model of pro-
found and impartial scholarship. In
preceding volume he studies the Social
lst tendencies which appear in English
life from the days of the medieval
scholars to the birth of Chartism. In
this book he carries on the study to the
present time
The evolution Of British labor as a