Williamsburg Regional Library

Was revolution inevitable?, turning points of the Russian Revolution, edited by Tony Brenton

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

maps

index present

non fiction

Was revolution inevitable?

bibliography

959034046

edited by Tony Brenton

turning points of the Russian Revolution

"Communism's rise and eventual fall in Eastern Europe is one of the most important political conflicts of the 20th century. However, the infamous legacy of the Russian Revolution often overshadows the events of the 1917 uprising itself-the complications of which speak volumes to the resulting international turmoil. In Historically Inevitable, former British Ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton compiles essays by top Russian historians-including Orlando Figes, Richard Pipes, and Dominic Lieven-to trace the events and ideology that overthrew the Tsarist regime and evaluate the true implications of the revolution. Formatted chronologically, the essays knit together the compelling narrative of the Russian Revolution, compiling a series of snapshots that capture the multifaceted nature of the uprising and, for the first time, present a counter-factual analysis of what might have gone differently. The course of the narrative takes into account the importance of various key players, such as Grigory Rasputin and Tsar Nicholas II, as well as the intricacies of the time and place. These interwoven details shed light on Vladimir Lenin's rise to power and the proliferation of his agenda, and evaluation of this process along with the effects of the revolution are used to evaluate contemporary Russian politics. Fusing the facts of the conflict with its accompanying drama, Historically Inevitable provides an in-depth exploration of a conflict that shaped our current geopolitical sphere. Thorough and engaging, the work untangles the complications of the past to help understand present and future events"--, Provided by publisher

Chronology -- Introduction / Tony Brenton -- 1900-1920. Foreign intervention : The long view / Dominic Lieven -- September 1911. The assassination of Stolypin / Simon Dixon -- June 1914. Grigory Rasputin and the outbreak of the first World War / Douglas Smith -- March 1917. The last Tsar / Donald Crawford -- April-July 1917. Enter Lenin / Sean McMeekin -- August 1917. The Kornilov Affair : a tragedy of errors / Richard Pipes -- October 1917. The 'harmless drunk' : Lenin and the October Insurrection / Orlando Figes -- January 1918. The short life and early death of Russian democracy : the Duma and the Constituent Assembly / Tony Brenton -- July 1918. Rescuing the Tsar and his family / Edvard Radzinsky -- August 1918. Fanny Kaplan's attempt to kill Lenin / Martin Sixsmith -- November 1918. Sea change in the Civil War / Evan Mawdsley -- March 1920. The fate of the Soviet countryside / Erik C. Landis -- February 1922. The "Bolshevik Reformation" / Catriona Kelly -- 1917-1922. The rise of Leninism : the death of political pluralism in the post-revolutionary Bolshevik Party / Richard Sakwa -- Afterword: Lenin and yesterday's utopia / Tony Brenton -- Dramatis personae

adult