Published on Reviews in History (http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews ) Founding Weimar: Violence and the German Revolution of 1918- 1919 Review Number: 2070 Publish date: Thursday, 23 February, 2017 Author: Mark Jones ISBN: 9781107115125 Date of Publication: 2016 Price: £65.00 Pages: 400pp. Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publisher url: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/founding-weimar/17405E61E6E36ADE36AA26E450EFE536 Place of Publication: Cambridge Reviewer: Ángel Alcalde There are two approaches to writing a significant history book. One is ‘going big’ and covering the broadest range of historical phenomena within a large geographical space during a wide time span. This approach makes use of vast and variegated historical bibliographies and well-selected primary sources. The result is an all-encompassing interpretation that helps to make sense of the chaotic matter of history. The other approach to writing a major contribution to historiography implies delving into the details instead: applying a microscope onto a few important historical events that took place in circumscribed time-spaces; gathering and closely analysing a great amount of empirical material that allows the researcher to provide a nuanced description of such events. This method has the ability to transform our understanding of history just as it can uncover previously unperceived factors that contributed to pushing historical events towards a specific direction. Mark Jones’ book is a clear example of this second model of history writing, and there are reasons to believe that it will be regarded as a turning point in the way in which historians explain post-First World War revolutionary processes and political violence in the European continent. The German revolution of 1918–19 was one of the defining episodes of the 20th century. It was not only the outcome of a country’s defeat in the greatest war that humanity had ever witnessed, but also the result of the efforts of important social and political forces that had long strived for democracy, liberty, and social equality. Within a few weeks after the German military leaders (who felt unable to win the war) had started to negotiate an armistice with the allies, a set of revolutionary protests and movements composed mainly of