Salama Moussa’s Book of Revolutions

**Salama Moussa’s Book of Revolutions: A Progressive Analysis of Uprisings**

I. Historical and Intellectual Context

Salama Moussa (1887–1958) was one of the foremost pioneers of progressive thought in Egypt and the Arab world, best known for his early advocacy of socialism and his deep engagement with European philosophy.

Born in the village of Bahnbay in Zagazig, he traveled to France between 1906 and 1909, where he encountered the works of Marx, Voltaire, and Darwin. He later moved to England to study law and joined the Fabian Society.

On returning to Egypt in 1910, he published his first book, Introduction to the Superman, beginning a radical intellectual journey that produced more than 40 works, including Theory of Evolution and Freedom of Thought and Its Heroes.

Book of Revolutions (1954) appeared in the wake of Egypt’s 1952 revolution, distilling Moussa’s reflections on the dynamics of social change. Written late in his life, it shows him less combative than in his earlier works, more attuned to the struggles of everyday people.

The book offers an analysis of major world revolutions—from the Roman slave uprisings to Egypt’s July Revolution—through a method that blends historical narrative with socio-economic interpretation.

II. Central Thesis: Revolution as a Recurring Pattern

Moussa’s vision rests on two core ideas:

1. The three-phase structure of revolutions:

Accumulated oppression
→ rigidification of the system
→ revolutionary explosion
→ leadership by a rising class
→ radical transformation

2. The role of the driving class:

“To the casual observer, it seems as though an entire people rises up in revolution. But on closer look, it is one class that feels oppression most keenly, takes the lead, and articulates its philosophy.”

Historical examples include:

1215 England: the nobility rising against King John.
1789 France: the bourgeoisie against feudalism.
1848 Europe: workers demanding rights.

III. Major Revolutions: Case Studies

A. The English Revolution: From Magna Carta to Cromwell

1215: the barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta.
1640: a popular uprising led by Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I.
Intellectual influence: poet John Milton, who embodied ideals of honor and conscience.

B. The French Revolution: The Enlightenment in Action

Causes: crushing tax inequality, with exemptions for the church and nobility.
Influences: Rousseau (“Man is born free”), Voltaire (critique of feudalism), Diderot (the role of science).
Achievements: the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the dismantling of feudal order.

C. The Russian Revolution: A Workers’ Model

Moussa does not delve deeply into details but highlights it as a case where the proletariat rose against entrenched class inequality.

D. The American Revolution: Independence as a Natural Right

George Washington’s leadership against British colonial rule.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) as a foundational document of popular sovereignty.

IV. Critical Reading

Moussa classifies Egypt’s revolutions into four waves:

Revolution	Date	Leaders	Goals	Outcome
First	19th century	Omar Makram	Against Muhammad Ali and the Turks	Crushed by military force
Second	1881	Ahmed Urabi	Resistance to British occupation	Defeated at Tel el-Kebir
Third	1919	Saad Zaghloul	Self-rule	Produced the 1923 constitution
Fourth	1952	Free Officers	Overthrow monarchy	Egypt becomes a republic

He directs sharp criticism at monarchy, describing Muhammad Ali as “a disaster who turned Egypt into his private estate.”

He also attacks servile literature, condemning Ahmed Shawqi’s poetry in praise of Khedive Abbas and King Farouk as “a disgrace to Egyptian letters.”

V. The Theory of the “New Class”

Moussa offers a distinctly Marxist analysis:

“The foundation of revolutions lies in the emergence of a new class that has altered its economic position and now struggles to transform its social and political status.”

Egyptian example: the absence of revolutions in antiquity due to stagnant modes of production and rigid class structures.
Dialectical insight: “Economic motives may be hidden, but their invisibility does not mean they are absent.”

VI. The Role of Intellectuals and Literature: Makers of Collective Consciousness

Moussa insists revolutions are conceived first in the minds of intellectuals:

Literature as a weapon: Voltaire’s and Rousseau’s writings paved the way for the French Revolution.
The intellectual elite: they “generate the philosophy that shapes the goals of revolution.”

By contrast, he laments that Egyptian writers failed to produce works supporting the 1952 revolution, unlike Shawqi’s verses—though he despised them—for the monarchy.

VII. Counter-Revolutions: The Eternal Struggle

Moussa warns that revolutionary victory is never final:

“No sooner are tyrants’ thrones toppled than new tyrants arise, plotting against freedom. These principles are ever-renewed and require constant vigilance.”

The safeguard: continuous education in values of “honor and justice” to prevent revolutions from backsliding.

VIII. Problems with the Book

Despite its depth, Book of Revolutions has limitations:

Economic determinism: reducing causes of revolution solely to economics.
Ideological bias: his embrace of Westernization (“European culture shattered the East’s stagnation”).
Overgeneralization: projecting Egypt’s experience onto unrelated contexts.
Subjectivity: Moussa admitted, “I wrote this book in a state of intellectual intoxication, savoring the revenge against those who betrayed the people.”
Simplification: calling Muhammad Ali a mere “small-time tradesman” without deeper analysis of his complex role.

IX. Revolution as a Continuous Process

Moussa concludes with the message that revolutions are not isolated events but ongoing struggles:

“They are not closed episodes, but living principles of resistance… needing continual revival to nurture humanity in humankind.”

Legacy of the book:

A document of post-1952 revolutionary fervor in Egypt.
A testament to Moussa’s shift from uncompromising Westernization toward social concern.
A prophetic warning about revolutionaries becoming “new tyrants,” foreshadowing later developments.

X. Editions and Availability

Edition	Publisher	Year	Pages	Availability
First	Dar al-‘Ilm li’l-Malayeen	1954	140	Rare
Digital	Hindawi Foundation	2015	–	Free online
Print	Arab Press Agency	2019	212	Widely available

In sum, Book of Revolutions remains a mirror of its turbulent age. Despite its oversimplifications and ideological leanings, it endures as a passionate testimony of revolutionary thought, seeking to link past and future at a decisive historical crossroads.

For the original summary in Arabic