Europe After Napoleon: Revolution, Reaction and Romanticism, 1814-1848

Europe after Napoleon rescues a neglected but vital period of European History. The Restoration period 1814-1848 is often treated as the 'Cinderella' of European history, whereas the period of peace it provided turned Europe into a political laboratory where the lessons of the French revolution could be worked out and absorbed. This study approaches the period not through a narrative history, but by analysing and comparing the major political ideologies it produced including conservatism, liberalism, reaction, radicalism socialism and nationalism, and sets them in their relationship to each other, and within the context of their times. The book opens with an analysis of the Congress of Vienna, that created the political world of the Restoration, and each chapter deals with an exploration of political ideologies 'in action' during the revolutions of these years.