Charles Kurzman, "Democracy Denied, 1905-1915: Intellectuals and the Fate of Democracy" (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008). 396 pp. Bibliography, Notes, Index. ISBN: 0-674-030-923.

This article presents a review of Charles Kurzman's "Democracy Denied, 1905-1915: Intellectuals and the Fate of Democracy," an examination of failed attempts of pro-democracy movements in Iran, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Mexico, and China. Kurzman focuses on international events and his central point is that intellectuals in the early twentieth century focused on class and attempted to use a hybrid ideology of democratic positivism in their revolutions. Kurzman bases his theses on research material, memoirs, and journalist and government workers' accounts. Though there is not enough in the book about international aspects of connections between intellectuals or reformers' uses of previous regimes' foundations, the book has depth, clarity, style, and worthy material as it addresses important historical and sociological issues. [ABSTRACT FROM CONTRIBUTOR]