Tilly at his best: intelligent theorizing and critique, combined with careful reflection on the data in the light of its historical context.

- Immanuel Wallerstein, Fernand Braudel Center, Yale University,

Of all living sociologists, Charles Tilly is almost certainly the one most respected by historians and political scientists. He always compares, he invariably asks and answers important questions, he knows the past as a historian, and he never forgets that the present and future are rooted in it.

- Eric J. Hobsbawm,