The Anatomy of Revolution is a great book, but Brinton does a dangerous thing: he fails to define revolution. This leads him to include the American Revolution, which many historians and theorists of revolution do not consider a revolution at all. Indeed, it is difficult to write a useful book if your readers do not know, exactly, what your observations refer to: do these observations hold true for a coup d'etat? Without defining revolution, Brinton leaves us wondering what his book does and does not appply to.
This book examines four events: the French, Russian, English and American Revolutions. Of the four, two are controversial, the American and British Revolutions. While the observations mostly dovetail with the more scientific literature on revolution and are presented in an interesting and readable format, a careful reader will be struck by how many of the comments refer only to the French and Russian revolutions, while noting that the British and American revolutions were "exceptions".
With its faults, this book ends up being more a historical case study rather than a study of revolution. It's observations are no less useful for that, however, and for those new to the field, Brinton's book makes for a readable and survivable introduction; something not to be underestimated.

Anatomy of Revolution by Crane Brinton was an excellent book, but it did have a few flaws. Brinton did a tremendous job of tying the four major revolutions, English, French, American, and Russian, together. He obviously spent a lot of time researching each revolution. His intelligence is uncomprendable. The only flaw he had while writing this book was that he took too many words and pages to get to a specific, simple point. He would take several pages to describe a simple, and obvious point. He builds the readers suspense level, but then kills it by having them read another five pages to get to the actual point he is trying to get through. Having a dictionary handy while reading this book would be very helpful. Crane Brinton's Anatomy of Revolution was well-written book and with the elimination of certain and unneeded points could become a five-star book about revolutions!

A former teacher, who had used this book in the mid-sixties in her social studies class, introduced me to Crane Brinton's work. The Anatomy of Revolution provides the perfect companion for high school educators who want to step away from the stodgy lecture method of teaching the English, French, American, and Russian revolutions. The book is invaluable for assisting in creating lesson plans that discuss the characteristics and commonalities of revolutions. Once learned, a model can be created that students can use to analyze and evaluate any of the world's major and minor revolutions. Crane Brinton's book is a "must have" for any high school social studies teacher interested in creating similar lessons on the topic of revolution that foster higher levels of learning.