Revolution!

by Pete Ayrton (Editor)

Commemorating the October 2017 centenary of the Russian Revolution, an anthology of wide-ranging voices and scholarship throwing fresh light on this momentous historical event.

This October the world commemorates the centenary of the Russian Revolution, one of the crucial moments of the twentieth century, and an event passionately fought over by those on all sides of the political spectrum.

Revolution! will contain writing by Russians and by foreigners who went to Russia and for whom the Russian Revolution was a political litmus test. The themes—hunger and heating, the limits of personal freedom, the infallibility of the party, free love, the role of art in the revolution—dominated twentieth century intellectual life and continue to resonate today. Many books on the Russian Revolution will be published in the centenary year, but Revolution! will be unique in portraying this momentous event through the writings of those who witnessed it (or its immediate after-effects).

Following No Man’s Land and No Pasaran , it is an anthology that vividly portrays the many sides of an event that changed the course of world history—and is still contested today.

“Leninists, Bolsheviks, anarchists and communists, thugs, registered housebreakers – what a muddle! What a Satanic vinaigrette! What immense work – to raise once more and cleanse from all this garbage the great idea of socialism.” —Teffi

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russia, Russian History, Essays, Russian Literature

368 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2017

Reviews

[Fran Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this book

[Doug Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little collection of writings about the Russian Revolution by people who experienced it and the aftermath. A good variety of perspectives helps paint a picture of life in Russia both during and after the 1917 October Revolution. Does not include any combat, just portraits of life, mostly civilian but there is a small part on living with a military unit. Extreme poverty tempered by extreme optimism for the future are common themes, along with disappointment at how things are unfolding and extreme censorship and extreme suppression of artistic expression. For all that, I found it interesting and often amusing rather than depressing. Even in poverty and oppression, people find hope and humour in life.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not worth reading. It says writings from Russia 1917. But most of the writings are from the late 1920's and 1930's. They are justifiably critical of the Stalinist regime, but that has nothing to do with what happened in 1917. There are a few writings that are from the early years of the revolution. One or two of them are okay but none are great. All in all, not worth reading.

[bookblast official · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayrton’s superb literary and political snapshots emphasise the surreal, dark comedy of chaos and grotesque horror show of human behaviour under extreme conditions.

Reviewed on The BookBlast® Diary 2017