The best books with revolutionary background that stir your heart

John Xiao Zhang Author Of Sailing Across the Red Storm
By John Xiao Zhang

Who am I?

I am a retired lecturer at Southampton University, but used to live in China for many years. I experienced the horrible Chinese Cultural Revolution between the 1960s and 1970s, which was similar to Stalin’s Great Purges. I was put in jail and suffered cruel torture. So personally, I can more understand how, in all revolutionary movement, people were struggling with the threat of death and hopelessness; how they were torn between the new value of the revolution and the damage to the existing moral system; and how the strength of humanity could shine in the bloody darkness of terror.

I wrote...

Sailing Across the Red Storm

By John Xiao Zhang,

Book cover of Sailing Across the Red Storm

What is my book about?

This trilogy is a deeply moving tale set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. A love story in the Romeo and Juliet style. This compelling historical novel recounts the suffering and ordeals of a handsome and talented young man, together with his lovers, friends, and family, throughout the cataclysm of this revolution. Overcoming these trials, they gain strength from love, friendship and self-sacrifice; they bravely overcome hardship and suffering, strive for hope and a brighter future.

Through rich character portrayal and meticulous description, the readers will gain a panoramic view of this huge historic event and insight not only into this turbulent era, but also into the strength of humanity as it shines brightest in the darkness of the great terror.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission. 

The books I picked & why

A Tale of Two Cities

By Charles Dickens,

Book cover of A Tale of Two Cities

Why did I love this book?

This is the very famous historical romance of Charles Dickens which describes the terrifying French Revolution. In the novel, Dickens verifies the historical plausibility of the Revolution. But he also condemns the inhuman persecution and execution. The book vividly describes the terrifying scene of the revolution and variety of characters who have different attitudes towards the revolution. Many readers are deeply moved by the self-sacrifice and heroism of Sydney Carton who bravely faced the scuff in order to save the happiness of the woman he loved.

A Tale of Two Cities

By Charles Dickens,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked A Tale of Two Cities as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sydney Carton is a lawyer who has wasted his abilities and his life. Now he has to make a difficult choice about what is really important to him, which could be a matter of life or death. The French Revolution is running its violent course; lives are ruined as a new France is created. How did the gentle Doctor Manette and his daughter Lucie become caught up in France's struggles? What is the real identity of the handsome Charles Darnay, who wins Lucie's hand in marriage? And why does the shadow of La Bastille Prison hang over them all? The…

Explore
Topics
Genres

Ninety-Three

By Victor Hugo,

Book cover of Ninety-Three

Why did I love this book?

This is the last of Hugo’s novels, but regarded as his greatest work. In the book, the author meticulously describes the bloody fighting between the Republic and Royalist during the French Revolution. The monarchist revolt in the Vendee was brutally suppressed by the Republic. The emotional struggle of the three main characters gives readers a heartbroken impact, which shows that these characters were torn between political values and their conscience.

Ninety-Three

By Victor Hugo,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Ninety-Three as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ninety-Three (1874) is the final novel of Victor Hugo. As a work of historical fiction, the story is set during the period of conflict between the newly formed French Republic and the Royalists who sought to reverse the gains of the revolution. Praised for its morality and honest depiction of the horrors of war, Ninety-Three influenced such wide-ranging political thinkers as Joseph Stalin and Ayn Rand. "The soldiers forced cautiously. Everything was in full bloom; they were surrounded by a quivering wall of branches, whose leaves diffused a delicious freshness. Here and there sunbeams pierced these green shades." Advancing through…

Explore
Topics
Genres

A Place of Greater Safety

By Hilary Mantel,

Book cover of A Place of Greater Safety

Why did I love this book?

A compelling historical fiction with the background of the French Revolution. The book describes the three main figures from the outside province to Paris who made the agitated and bloody history. Camille was related to the capture of Bastille; Danton made the execution of Louis XVI and Robespierre—the Terror. They enjoyed the happiness of power, but also paid a heavy price for it. We can see how humanity was lost in the turbulent revolutionary storm. 

A Place of Greater Safety

By Hilary Mantel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Place of Greater Safety as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This novel follows the lives of three major figures in the French Revolution - Robespierre, Danton and Desmoulins - from their childhoods in Northern France through to the last terrifying moments of their execution. The book juxataposes private occasions with public events.

Explore
Topics
Genres

Doctor Zhivago

By Boris Pasternak, Richard Pevear (translator), Larissa Volokhonsky

Book cover of Doctor Zhivago

Why did I love this book?

This is the well-known Russian historical romance fiction with the background of the Russian communist revolution. The book shows how Russian intellectuals were puzzled in the revolution. They welcome the revolution, but later were confused with the poverty and bloody chaos caused by the revolution. The cruel political struggle, like a huge wheel, was rolling on all people including the innocent ones. The author described the truth of the revolution. The love story is a tragedy caused by the fate of the time

Doctor Zhivago

By Boris Pasternak, Richard Pevear (translator), Larissa Volokhonsky

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Doctor Zhivago as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

First published in Italy in 1957 amid international controversy, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times. Pevear and Volokhonsky masterfully restore the spirit of Pasternak's original—his style, rhythms,…

Explore
Topics
Genres

And Quiet Flows the Don

By Mikhail Sholokhov,

Book cover of And Quiet Flows the Don

Why did I love this book?

It is a compelling epic of the bloody Russian Revolution to show how Don Cossack suffered and fought during World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the following civic war. The love story is beautiful and moving. The main character Grigori was moving between the White and Red army, with pain and daze. Like other Cossack people, he was torn between royalty and betrayal, right and wrong, justice and barbarism.

And Quiet Flows the Don

By Mikhail Sholokhov,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked And Quiet Flows the Don as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the first of four books of the novel, And Quiet Flows the Don. The second and third books are due to be put into ebook format in late 2016, with book four coming available in 2017.

And Quiet Flows the Don is an epic novel in four volumes by Russian writer Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov. The first three volumes were written from 1925 to 1932 and published in the Soviet magazine October in 1928–1932, and the fourth volume was finished in 1940. The English translation of the first three volumes appeared under this title in 1934.

The novel is…

Explore
Topics
Genres

5 book lists we think you will like!

The best books on the French Revolution from a wide range of perspectives
The best historical fiction that is more hysterical than historical
The best books of timeless stories whose settings hold and shape the plot
The best novels relating to the French Revolution
The best books that explain the politics behind hunger

Interested in France, the French Revolution, and the Soviet Union?

9,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about France, the French Revolution, and the Soviet Union.

France Explore 779 books about France
The French Revolution Explore 109 books about the French Revolution
The Soviet Union Explore 283 books about the Soviet Union

And, 3 books we think you will enjoy!

We think you will like Cold Mountain, The Lord of the Rings, and Educated if you like this list.

Book cover of Cold Mountain Book cover of The Lord of the Rings Book cover of Educated: A Memoir