Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reflects on the memory of the English, American, French and Haitian revolutions. It acknowledges that the historical moments do represent revolutions. The book demonstrates that the recognition of a set of events as revolutionary was predicated on historical comparison and analogy. It argues that revolutionary memory may form a critical part of the 'origin myths' of the nations. The book suggests that popular understandings of the events, including the versions of these revolutions communicated through school history curricula, remain remarkably resistant to absorbing the fruits of this academic endeavour. It highlights the complexity of public memory, its varied forms and sites, individual and local, as well as national. Consequently, historians, far from being 'innocent bystanders', must also bear some responsibility for nurturing the often bitter fruits of revolutionary memory.