Richard Skinner, teaches European and World history at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. He received a B. A. from Baylor University, an M. A. from Columbia University, and the Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. This article is derived from his study of artisan protest and the popular press in Leipzig during the revolutions of 1848/9; currently he is undertaking an oral history project concerning more recent "transitions to capitalism" in Leipzig.