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The Potemkin Mutiny
Hailed as an important contribution both to history and to sea literature when first published in 1961, Richard Hough's book gives a dramatic blow-by-blow account of the June 1905 mutiny on board the Russian battleship Potemkin . The revolt, immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein's famous motion picture, was considered by the Soviets a glorious moment in the people's fight against a tyrannical czarist government, but for others it was a sordid little rebellion over bad meat.
Hough chronicles events from the first rumblings of discontent to the closing scenes of the uprising that nearly brought about the Russian Revolution twelve years early. His balanced recounting of events, including the killing of many Potemkin officers and a civil uprising in Odessa quelled by the Cossacks who, slaughtered thousands, show the protagonists not as symbols but as human beings reacting under powerful tensions.
Hough chronicles events from the first rumblings of discontent to the closing scenes of the uprising that nearly brought about the Russian Revolution twelve years early. His balanced recounting of events, including the killing of many Potemkin officers and a civil uprising in Odessa quelled by the Cossacks who, slaughtered thousands, show the protagonists not as symbols but as human beings reacting under powerful tensions.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
15 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Richard Hough
140 books24 followersRichard Alexander Hough was a British author and historian specializing in naval history. As a child, he was obsessed with making model warships and collecting information about navies around the world. In 1941, he joined the Royal Air Force and trained at a flying school near Los Angeles. He flew Hurricanes and Typhoons and was wounded in action.
After World War II, Hough worked as a part-time delivery driver for a wine shop, while looking for employment involving books. He finally joined the publishing house Bodley Head, and then Hamish Hamilton, where he eventually headed the children’s book division.
His work as a publisher inspired him to turn to writing himself in 1950, and he went on to write more than ninety books over a long and successful career. Best-known for his works of naval history and his biographies, he also wrote war novels and books for children (under the pseudonym Bruce Carter), all of which sold in huge numbers around the world. His works include The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century and best-selling biographies of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Captain James Cook. Captain Bligh and Mr Christian, his 1972 account of the mutiny on the Bounty, was the basis of the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
Hough was the official historian of the Mountbatten family and a longtime student of Churchill. Winston Churchill figures prominently in nine of his books, including Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Wars at Sea. He won the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award in 1972.
After World War II, Hough worked as a part-time delivery driver for a wine shop, while looking for employment involving books. He finally joined the publishing house Bodley Head, and then Hamish Hamilton, where he eventually headed the children’s book division.
His work as a publisher inspired him to turn to writing himself in 1950, and he went on to write more than ninety books over a long and successful career. Best-known for his works of naval history and his biographies, he also wrote war novels and books for children (under the pseudonym Bruce Carter), all of which sold in huge numbers around the world. His works include The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century and best-selling biographies of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Captain James Cook. Captain Bligh and Mr Christian, his 1972 account of the mutiny on the Bounty, was the basis of the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
Hough was the official historian of the Mountbatten family and a longtime student of Churchill. Winston Churchill figures prominently in nine of his books, including Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Wars at Sea. He won the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award in 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 5, 2020
For most people the Potemkin mutiny is remembered from Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent movie Battleship Potemkin and its two unforgettable scenes: the ship’s doctor approving for consumption a haunch of meat crawling with maggots, and the massacre on the Odessa Steps, with the baby carriage bouncing down the stairs between the heaps of bodies. In reality, the doctor did approve the questionable meat, saying that it would be fine once rinsed with a bit of vinegar, and, while there are no reports of a baby carriage, the steps were the scene of a horrific massacre, as the Cossacks advanced downward and fired into the panicked crowd, again and again till they reached the bottom of the 240 steps.
The actual events of those eleven days were a mix of tragedy and confusion, and there were moments when history seemed to hang in the balance. By the summer of 1905 uprisings were breaking out all over Russia. The war with Japan and been a disaster, incompetently organized and led, with one humiliating defeat after another. The government was nearly bankrupt, and forced to cancel large contracts, resulting in tens of thousands of workers being laid off. As always the Russian government’s solution to resistance was to meeting it with overwhelming force, and strikers were shot down across the country.
Rebellion was at a fever pitch in the Black Sea Fleet, with dozens of revolutionary movements seeking to take control of soldiers and sailors. The Bolsheviks were among these, but merely one of many smaller factions. The Social Democrats were the most powerful and best organized, and they had a plan to seize the entire fleet with a single coup de main. As the ships gathered for exercises the revolutionaries were to coordinate their movements and arrest the ships’ officers at daybreak. By the time the government knew what was happening all the battleships would have been taken, and would then have formed an unstoppable force supporting revolution on land. With all of southern Russia in revolt, there was a good chance that the rest of the country would have fallen as well, twelve years before the 1917 revolution, and in the hands of Social Democrats who were committed to peace and justice. Lenin and his cohorts would have remained just a footnote to history.
Among the battleships the one considered most loyal to the Tsar was the Potemkin, and Afanasy Nikolayevich Matushenko, the leader of the ship’s Social Democratic cell, was urged to step up his revolutionary proselytizing to ensure the crew would act when the time came. He was certain that his shipmates would follow through, and even asked to start the Potemkin’s mutiny a few days earlier than the rest of the fleet. He was firmly directed to abide by the schedule.
Then there was the incident with the meat. It may indeed have been going bad, and hanging outside all day in the hot June sun did not help, but it may also have been merely a convenient pretext. The ship’s doctor inspected it several times and assured the men that it was safe to eat when made into borscht, but by now tensions were reaching the boiling point.
The Captain called an all-hands meeting and ordered everyone who would eat the meat to step forward. Only a handful of the long serving sailors did so, and the Captain blustered but took no action other than to issue vague threats, and so left looking weak and ineffective. The ship’s second in command, a feared disciplinarian, then addressed the crew and ordered them to step forward to show that they would eat. When they did not he commanded an armed guard to select men from the crew, and covered them with a tarpaulin, the traditional form of execution by firing squad in the Russian navy.
When the guards hesitated to shoot their shipmates, the officer tried to grab one of the rifles, but this became the signal for general mutiny, and he was quickly shot dead. The sailors took guns from the armory and went in search of the ship’s other officers, sparing only the ones who pleaded to join their cause. Seven officers were killed in the next half hour. Many of those who survived did so by jumping overboard and swimming to a nearby torpedo boat, but several were wounded as they tried to get there. The ship’s captain was found in his underwear and without shoes, planning to jump overboard himself, and was summarily executed by Matushenko.
With the ship under their command, and the red banner of revolution flying from the mast, the Potemkin sailed to Odessa, hoping to lead a general revolt of the soldiers and workers. It looked like they were going to succeed, and thousands of people poured into the streets, setting up barricades and preparing to fight. They had enthusiasm but few guns, while the Russian army had Cossaks and regular troops in the city, with thousands more converging on it, along with heavy artillery. Potemkin was an awe-inspiring sight at anchor in the harbor, and might have made a difference, but they did not have a map of the city and were reluctant to fire blindly. In the end they fired three blanks and two live shells from their six inch guns, but the main armament, the four 12 inchers, never spoke.
Looting and rioting broke out, and the city started to burn, while the soldiers were given free rein to shoot anything that moved. By dawn the next day an estimated 6000 people were dead and one quarter of the city, the fourth largest in Russia, was reduced to ashes.
The mutineers on Potemkin knew that the rest of the Black Sea fleet was sailing to capture or destroy them, and put to sea to meet the attack. In the first encounter, with part of the fleet, the loyal ships turned tail as soon as they saw Potemkin train her guns on them. When they returned with the rest of the battleships there occurred one of the most dramatic moments in naval history. Potemkin approached the other vessels to point black range, running down between the two columns, determined to fire only when fired upon, but none of the other ships fired. In fact, sailors left their positions and lined the rails cheering the mutineers. One of the battleships, George the Conqueror, even hauled out of line and joined Potemkin, as the rest scurried off to Sevastopol.
Now two battleships strong they returned to Odessa, prepared once again to lead a revolt. The George, however, proved to be an unreliable ally. It appeared that the mutiny was led by only a small cadre of sailors, and at least half of the crew wanted no part in it, knowing that failure meant a death sentence or long imprisonment in Siberia. The George tried to escape, turning around only Potemkin prepared to open fire, but instead of returning to anchor ran aground at full speed.
Low on food and coal Potemkin left Odessa to try to find a port that would supply them. They wandered for days as they were refused everywhere they went. The Romanians offered them asylum and in the end, with nowhere else to go and not enough fuel to return to Odessa, the accepted. As they left the ship the seacocks were opened and Potemkin settled into the mud of the harbor. The Russians raised it and as a mark of disgrace the Tsar ordered it renamed Pantelymon, or Low Peasant.
Romania kept its promise of asylum, even in the face of threats from the Russian government, but many of the Potemkin sailors were poorly treated. Two years later Matushenko and four of his shipmates accepted an amnesty offered by Russia, but on reaching the border Matushenko was hanged and the others given long sentences in Siberia. Some of the remaining crew eventually emigrated to South America, and vanished from history.
It is interesting to speculate on what could have been. With better coordination, and better luck the Tsar might have been swept from office early. Whether the new government would have kept the treaties with France at the outbreak of World War I is just speculation. It was a long hot summer in Russia in 1905, violent and bloody, and the course of history balanced on momentous deeds 700 miles from St Petersburg in the warm waters of the Black Sea.
The actual events of those eleven days were a mix of tragedy and confusion, and there were moments when history seemed to hang in the balance. By the summer of 1905 uprisings were breaking out all over Russia. The war with Japan and been a disaster, incompetently organized and led, with one humiliating defeat after another. The government was nearly bankrupt, and forced to cancel large contracts, resulting in tens of thousands of workers being laid off. As always the Russian government’s solution to resistance was to meeting it with overwhelming force, and strikers were shot down across the country.
Rebellion was at a fever pitch in the Black Sea Fleet, with dozens of revolutionary movements seeking to take control of soldiers and sailors. The Bolsheviks were among these, but merely one of many smaller factions. The Social Democrats were the most powerful and best organized, and they had a plan to seize the entire fleet with a single coup de main. As the ships gathered for exercises the revolutionaries were to coordinate their movements and arrest the ships’ officers at daybreak. By the time the government knew what was happening all the battleships would have been taken, and would then have formed an unstoppable force supporting revolution on land. With all of southern Russia in revolt, there was a good chance that the rest of the country would have fallen as well, twelve years before the 1917 revolution, and in the hands of Social Democrats who were committed to peace and justice. Lenin and his cohorts would have remained just a footnote to history.
Among the battleships the one considered most loyal to the Tsar was the Potemkin, and Afanasy Nikolayevich Matushenko, the leader of the ship’s Social Democratic cell, was urged to step up his revolutionary proselytizing to ensure the crew would act when the time came. He was certain that his shipmates would follow through, and even asked to start the Potemkin’s mutiny a few days earlier than the rest of the fleet. He was firmly directed to abide by the schedule.
Then there was the incident with the meat. It may indeed have been going bad, and hanging outside all day in the hot June sun did not help, but it may also have been merely a convenient pretext. The ship’s doctor inspected it several times and assured the men that it was safe to eat when made into borscht, but by now tensions were reaching the boiling point.
The Captain called an all-hands meeting and ordered everyone who would eat the meat to step forward. Only a handful of the long serving sailors did so, and the Captain blustered but took no action other than to issue vague threats, and so left looking weak and ineffective. The ship’s second in command, a feared disciplinarian, then addressed the crew and ordered them to step forward to show that they would eat. When they did not he commanded an armed guard to select men from the crew, and covered them with a tarpaulin, the traditional form of execution by firing squad in the Russian navy.
When the guards hesitated to shoot their shipmates, the officer tried to grab one of the rifles, but this became the signal for general mutiny, and he was quickly shot dead. The sailors took guns from the armory and went in search of the ship’s other officers, sparing only the ones who pleaded to join their cause. Seven officers were killed in the next half hour. Many of those who survived did so by jumping overboard and swimming to a nearby torpedo boat, but several were wounded as they tried to get there. The ship’s captain was found in his underwear and without shoes, planning to jump overboard himself, and was summarily executed by Matushenko.
With the ship under their command, and the red banner of revolution flying from the mast, the Potemkin sailed to Odessa, hoping to lead a general revolt of the soldiers and workers. It looked like they were going to succeed, and thousands of people poured into the streets, setting up barricades and preparing to fight. They had enthusiasm but few guns, while the Russian army had Cossaks and regular troops in the city, with thousands more converging on it, along with heavy artillery. Potemkin was an awe-inspiring sight at anchor in the harbor, and might have made a difference, but they did not have a map of the city and were reluctant to fire blindly. In the end they fired three blanks and two live shells from their six inch guns, but the main armament, the four 12 inchers, never spoke.
Looting and rioting broke out, and the city started to burn, while the soldiers were given free rein to shoot anything that moved. By dawn the next day an estimated 6000 people were dead and one quarter of the city, the fourth largest in Russia, was reduced to ashes.
The mutineers on Potemkin knew that the rest of the Black Sea fleet was sailing to capture or destroy them, and put to sea to meet the attack. In the first encounter, with part of the fleet, the loyal ships turned tail as soon as they saw Potemkin train her guns on them. When they returned with the rest of the battleships there occurred one of the most dramatic moments in naval history. Potemkin approached the other vessels to point black range, running down between the two columns, determined to fire only when fired upon, but none of the other ships fired. In fact, sailors left their positions and lined the rails cheering the mutineers. One of the battleships, George the Conqueror, even hauled out of line and joined Potemkin, as the rest scurried off to Sevastopol.
Now two battleships strong they returned to Odessa, prepared once again to lead a revolt. The George, however, proved to be an unreliable ally. It appeared that the mutiny was led by only a small cadre of sailors, and at least half of the crew wanted no part in it, knowing that failure meant a death sentence or long imprisonment in Siberia. The George tried to escape, turning around only Potemkin prepared to open fire, but instead of returning to anchor ran aground at full speed.
Low on food and coal Potemkin left Odessa to try to find a port that would supply them. They wandered for days as they were refused everywhere they went. The Romanians offered them asylum and in the end, with nowhere else to go and not enough fuel to return to Odessa, the accepted. As they left the ship the seacocks were opened and Potemkin settled into the mud of the harbor. The Russians raised it and as a mark of disgrace the Tsar ordered it renamed Pantelymon, or Low Peasant.
Romania kept its promise of asylum, even in the face of threats from the Russian government, but many of the Potemkin sailors were poorly treated. Two years later Matushenko and four of his shipmates accepted an amnesty offered by Russia, but on reaching the border Matushenko was hanged and the others given long sentences in Siberia. Some of the remaining crew eventually emigrated to South America, and vanished from history.
It is interesting to speculate on what could have been. With better coordination, and better luck the Tsar might have been swept from office early. Whether the new government would have kept the treaties with France at the outbreak of World War I is just speculation. It was a long hot summer in Russia in 1905, violent and bloody, and the course of history balanced on momentous deeds 700 miles from St Petersburg in the warm waters of the Black Sea.
August 24, 2017
4.5 stars - a tragic tale.
I really, really, enjoyed this book. Completely out of left field for me, I found it strangely compelling and could not stop reading. The fact that these events actually happened only added to the drama.
The Potemkin Mutiny tells the story of the misguided mutiny on the Russian battleship Potemkin in 1905, the events surrounding it in the immediate aftermath and in the context of the Russian revolution. At the time Russia was waging war in the Far East (it had just lost the Korean peninsula to Japan) and had little credibility as a naval power. Of its three fleets, only the Black Sea fleet was still intact and the Potemkin was the biggest and strongest warship of them all.
The mutiny was ostensibly over the rotten meat that was being foisted on the crew, but in reality it was part of a larger plot that was to kickstart the revolution. Unfortunately things did not go according to plan and reading about the tragic aftermath that unfolded, both in Odessa and at sea, was heartbreaking. Things were not supposed to get violent yet they did, and the crew of the Potemkin were eventually betrayed by all and sundry.
Looking back on these events from today's perspective I can only wonder if we have learnt nothing. When people are downtrodden enough and hungry enough who is to say there will not be other revolutions? Thank you to Endeavour Press for providing me with a copy of the book for an honest review.
I really, really, enjoyed this book. Completely out of left field for me, I found it strangely compelling and could not stop reading. The fact that these events actually happened only added to the drama.
The Potemkin Mutiny tells the story of the misguided mutiny on the Russian battleship Potemkin in 1905, the events surrounding it in the immediate aftermath and in the context of the Russian revolution. At the time Russia was waging war in the Far East (it had just lost the Korean peninsula to Japan) and had little credibility as a naval power. Of its three fleets, only the Black Sea fleet was still intact and the Potemkin was the biggest and strongest warship of them all.
The mutiny was ostensibly over the rotten meat that was being foisted on the crew, but in reality it was part of a larger plot that was to kickstart the revolution. Unfortunately things did not go according to plan and reading about the tragic aftermath that unfolded, both in Odessa and at sea, was heartbreaking. Things were not supposed to get violent yet they did, and the crew of the Potemkin were eventually betrayed by all and sundry.
Looking back on these events from today's perspective I can only wonder if we have learnt nothing. When people are downtrodden enough and hungry enough who is to say there will not be other revolutions? Thank you to Endeavour Press for providing me with a copy of the book for an honest review.
August 26, 2017
I remember when history was basically taught as a set of events and facts. It was interesting, only if you liked history, but an absolute bore to the rest. But over the years, with better research, more has been learned, and it has become personified; in the since the people who either played a role in that historic event, or were a witness thereof, have been brought into teaching of history and given it a much needed personalization. History has never been about just events and facts. For without the people who partook of, led therein, who conveyed their feelings and thoughts for prosperity, history would not even occur. For it is all about the people of that day, that event, which make history. I am so appreciative to see history being presented today with such a personalized perspective. For without the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of those who took part in any historical event, history would be truly lost to us; and that would be catastrophic for all humanity.
“The Potemkin Mutiny” is a good example of history coming alive from the voices of those who actually took part in this event. It brings to life a mysterious and obscure event, which has been told in so many different ways, for the political passings of so many agendas, and whose relevance to history has been relegated to the back dusty pages. This mutiny by the crew of the Russian navy has been covered up by the embarrassment of the Czarist Russia, epitomized by the Bolsheviks under Lenin, who directed a movie be made of Potemkin rebellion, of course told from perspective of the Soviet heart, to obscurity under after the fall of Soviet Russia. Richard Hough in resurfacing this event of history, dragged through the political objectives of so many regimes and political leaders, had no dubious or insignificant challenge, to recover and bring together the real story of the Potemkin, and giving life back to both event and those who were involved.
Mr. Hough’s efforts achieved this purpose. The relevance of the Potemkin Mutiny was no small or insignificant matter as revealed by the efforts of Lenin and the bolsheviks to bring esteem and honor to those who participated in the mutiny. Separating fact from embellishment, recovering the accounts from the Czarist regime, finding the personal papers of those few personal documents and correspondence of the leaders of the rebellion, who could even read and write, are all no small accomplishments. For Mr. Hough to achieve this purpose and bring this historical event to light again, is no small feat.
A delight to read the account of the mutiny in first person. To understand the challenges, apprehension, joys, and dismays of the leaders and members of the crew. As Mr. Hough takes you through the retelling of this event, I found myself actually captivated and intrigued as to how this was all going to end up. Was the Potemkin to be sunk by the Imperial fleet? With the joining of battleship, George the Conqueror, going to lead the rest of the Russian Black Sea fleet to also join in the mutiny? These and so many other questions came to mind as you turned the pages of history back to rediscover the fateful event of the Potemkin. You will have to read this engaging and captivating short book to find out for yourself.
I do wish Mr. Hough has provided more insight and biographical information as to the main characters. What has led them to their convictions. Were there specific events in their personal lives which lead them to this time and moment in history? I found myself asking this about a few of the main characters, putting the events into perspective. Additionally, Mr. Hough could have provided a bit more background as to the climate of Czarist Russia at the time of Potemkin Mutiny, which would have given the reader a deeper understanding and significance of the this event.
Otherwise, Mr. Hough has done a good job bringing this slice of history alive and adding to it, an unbiased perspective, through the eyes of those who were involved. A good read, especially for the history enthusiast.
“The Potemkin Mutiny” is a good example of history coming alive from the voices of those who actually took part in this event. It brings to life a mysterious and obscure event, which has been told in so many different ways, for the political passings of so many agendas, and whose relevance to history has been relegated to the back dusty pages. This mutiny by the crew of the Russian navy has been covered up by the embarrassment of the Czarist Russia, epitomized by the Bolsheviks under Lenin, who directed a movie be made of Potemkin rebellion, of course told from perspective of the Soviet heart, to obscurity under after the fall of Soviet Russia. Richard Hough in resurfacing this event of history, dragged through the political objectives of so many regimes and political leaders, had no dubious or insignificant challenge, to recover and bring together the real story of the Potemkin, and giving life back to both event and those who were involved.
Mr. Hough’s efforts achieved this purpose. The relevance of the Potemkin Mutiny was no small or insignificant matter as revealed by the efforts of Lenin and the bolsheviks to bring esteem and honor to those who participated in the mutiny. Separating fact from embellishment, recovering the accounts from the Czarist regime, finding the personal papers of those few personal documents and correspondence of the leaders of the rebellion, who could even read and write, are all no small accomplishments. For Mr. Hough to achieve this purpose and bring this historical event to light again, is no small feat.
A delight to read the account of the mutiny in first person. To understand the challenges, apprehension, joys, and dismays of the leaders and members of the crew. As Mr. Hough takes you through the retelling of this event, I found myself actually captivated and intrigued as to how this was all going to end up. Was the Potemkin to be sunk by the Imperial fleet? With the joining of battleship, George the Conqueror, going to lead the rest of the Russian Black Sea fleet to also join in the mutiny? These and so many other questions came to mind as you turned the pages of history back to rediscover the fateful event of the Potemkin. You will have to read this engaging and captivating short book to find out for yourself.
I do wish Mr. Hough has provided more insight and biographical information as to the main characters. What has led them to their convictions. Were there specific events in their personal lives which lead them to this time and moment in history? I found myself asking this about a few of the main characters, putting the events into perspective. Additionally, Mr. Hough could have provided a bit more background as to the climate of Czarist Russia at the time of Potemkin Mutiny, which would have given the reader a deeper understanding and significance of the this event.
Otherwise, Mr. Hough has done a good job bringing this slice of history alive and adding to it, an unbiased perspective, through the eyes of those who were involved. A good read, especially for the history enthusiast.
September 16, 2020
Brave sailors
An interesting account of events tracing the Mutiny on board Russia’s biggest and most dangerous vessel with its 12 inch guns. The account offers little by way of analysis and despite the details of events it’s not clear exactly why the crew capitulated. They all faced horrendous punishment from the Tsar and his Government many of which were carried out. Despite a promise of ‘balance’ the author finds it hard to restrain his view that the illiterate ‘mob’ led by ‘tub thumpers’ and ‘Marxist rabble rousers’ deserved their fate but that may always be a problem when Westerners write about Russia?
An interesting account of events tracing the Mutiny on board Russia’s biggest and most dangerous vessel with its 12 inch guns. The account offers little by way of analysis and despite the details of events it’s not clear exactly why the crew capitulated. They all faced horrendous punishment from the Tsar and his Government many of which were carried out. Despite a promise of ‘balance’ the author finds it hard to restrain his view that the illiterate ‘mob’ led by ‘tub thumpers’ and ‘Marxist rabble rousers’ deserved their fate but that may always be a problem when Westerners write about Russia?
December 7, 2017
A concise account of the historical events portrayed in the famous 1925 film "The Battleship Potemkin". The film is very much a piece of propaganda so I was surprised to learn that many of the events in the film really did happen - including the famous massacre on the Odessa steps (the sequence with the pram rolling down the steps much loved by film-makers). I read this after a trip to Odessa complete with the requisite selfie on those very steps. The book provided good information about a piece of history I was woefully ignorant about.
February 4, 2018
Straightforward Account
Clear and comprehensive account of the mutiny and its leaders. Recommended for anyone interested in pre-revolutiinary Russia, very good read
Clear and comprehensive account of the mutiny and its leaders. Recommended for anyone interested in pre-revolutiinary Russia, very good read
May 5, 2024
An amazing story
Little known prelude to the Russian revolution. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Life as a Russian sailor was not easy at the start of the 20th century.
Little known prelude to the Russian revolution. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Life as a Russian sailor was not easy at the start of the 20th century.
July 11, 2024
I knew almost nothing about the Potemkin, other than the famous scene in the film Battleship Potemkin' with the pram and the steps.
This book supplies a lot of information, which is put into the context of both the ship and the wider context of Russia at the time. The author has clearly done his homework and the tale of mutiny and betrayal is told well.
This book supplies a lot of information, which is put into the context of both the ship and the wider context of Russia at the time. The author has clearly done his homework and the tale of mutiny and betrayal is told well.
September 3, 2013
MY COPY IS HARDBOUND
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews