The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents

In the late nineteenth century, nations the world over were mired in economic recession and beset by social unrest, their leaders increasingly threatened by acts of terrorism and assassination from anarchist extremists.

In this riveting history of that tumultuous period, Alex Butterworth follows the rise of these revolutionaries from the failed Paris Commune of 1871 to the 1905 Russian Revolution and beyond. Through the interwoven stories of several key anarchists and the secret police who hunted them, Butterworth vividly describes how a movement born in idealism turned increasingly to desperate acts of terrorism and murder. Rich in anecdote and with a fascinating array of supporting characters, The World That Never Was offers a revelatory portrait of an era with uncanny echoes of our own.

Author: Alex Butterworth
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 08/09/2011
Pages: 544
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 7.96h x 5.34w x 1.11d
ISBN: 9780307386755

Review Citation(s):
Books & Culture 09/01/2013 pg. 9

About the Author

Alex Butterworth is a historian and dramatist whose first book, Pompeii: The Living City, won the Longman-History Today New Generation Book of the Year Award in 2006. He lives in Oxford, England.