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The Women's Revolution: Russia 1905 - 1917
The dominant view of the Russian Revolution of 1917 is of an all-male affair. Despite the demonstrations of female workers for ‘bread and herrings’ which sparked the February Revolution, in the historical accounts of this momentous period, women are too often relegated to the footnotes.
Judy Cox argues that, in fact, women were central to the success of the revolution and to the development of the Bolshevik Party. With biographical sketches of famous female revolutionaries like Alexandra Kollontai and less well-known figures like Elena Stasova and Larissa Reisner, The Women’s Revolution tells the inspiring story of how Russian women threw off centuries of oppression to strike, organise and fight for their liberation.
Judy Cox argues that, in fact, women were central to the success of the revolution and to the development of the Bolshevik Party. With biographical sketches of famous female revolutionaries like Alexandra Kollontai and less well-known figures like Elena Stasova and Larissa Reisner, The Women’s Revolution tells the inspiring story of how Russian women threw off centuries of oppression to strike, organise and fight for their liberation.
126 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 2, 2023
A decent text. The book covers the often neglected role of women’s liberation, both in historical analysis of the Russian Revolution and of today. As well as this, many women who were prominently involved in the Russian Revolution, only to be subsequently sidelined, have their stories touched on.
While this book is a solid introduction to the subject, it is held back by occasional clunky writing. Many of the women, movements, and organisational debates that are spoke of throughout the book are, thankfully, being revisited in depth. This book serves as a great way to introduce unfamiliar readers into that field.
While this book is a solid introduction to the subject, it is held back by occasional clunky writing. Many of the women, movements, and organisational debates that are spoke of throughout the book are, thankfully, being revisited in depth. This book serves as a great way to introduce unfamiliar readers into that field.
June 23, 2021
I think this is a very good introductory overview to the role that women played in the Russian revolutions and early Soviet Union, and should be read by all students of the aforementioned. However, for me personally there was not really anything new seeing how my entire undergrad dissertation focused on this but it was still an enjoyable read.
January 3, 2022
A nice short read and great introduction to the women that were involved in the revolution.
June 10, 2024
An excellent introduction to the often undervalued role that women played in developing the resistance to tsarism and latterly the provisional government. Mostly a chronological account, it also has some pen portraits of key individuals such as Inessa Armand, Alexandra Kolloantai and Larissa Reisner. Misogynistic accounts are given short shrift and effectively challenged.
August 30, 2024
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March 8, 2020
One of the absolute best books I have read on the Russian Revolution. Absolutely skewers the treatment of these prominent women revolutionaries by history. Short on length but not impact.
May 7, 2020
Really awesome and breezy book showing off just how much women played a role in the Russian Revolution— which, turns out, was a lot. Also, no handwringing about being a part of the Bolsheviks, which felt good. The Russian Revolution was a monumental liberatory moment for women. There is no need to apologize for that.
April 24, 2021
3.75 stars. Great history about the essential role that working class women played before, during, and after the Russian Revolution.
It disputes the ideas that 1.) women were only involved in "unskilled" labor and played little role in the front lines or leadership positions of the revolution, and 2.) Lenin was the the reason why the women around him became revolutionaries (when, in fact, many women were already educated in Marxism and organizing before they even met Lenin). The book raises other points as well—I just picked a few. I liked reading about socialist working class feminists who challenged bourgeois feminists, and the violent strategies of brave revolutionary women that helped propel revolution.
Ultimately, working class women were the backbone of the Russian Revolution. Education, radicalization, organization, smuggling of literature/documents, etc... they did so much more than what they are given (little) credit for. Many historians only mention revolutionary women to comment on their "subservience" or their physical appearance (or they ignore women completely).
Typos and awkward sentences made me rate this a 3.75. There were times where the subject of the sentence was not clear so I was confused about who was doing what.
Regardless, the book is amazing! Don't let typos deter you, there were only like 3-4. I'm just very picky about things like that lol.
I read it in 2 days, but definitely can be read in a couple of hours. It's 120 pages with 15 of those pages being pictures.
I recommend 100%! :)
It disputes the ideas that 1.) women were only involved in "unskilled" labor and played little role in the front lines or leadership positions of the revolution, and 2.) Lenin was the the reason why the women around him became revolutionaries (when, in fact, many women were already educated in Marxism and organizing before they even met Lenin). The book raises other points as well—I just picked a few. I liked reading about socialist working class feminists who challenged bourgeois feminists, and the violent strategies of brave revolutionary women that helped propel revolution.
Ultimately, working class women were the backbone of the Russian Revolution. Education, radicalization, organization, smuggling of literature/documents, etc... they did so much more than what they are given (little) credit for. Many historians only mention revolutionary women to comment on their "subservience" or their physical appearance (or they ignore women completely).
Typos and awkward sentences made me rate this a 3.75. There were times where the subject of the sentence was not clear so I was confused about who was doing what.
Regardless, the book is amazing! Don't let typos deter you, there were only like 3-4. I'm just very picky about things like that lol.
I read it in 2 days, but definitely can be read in a couple of hours. It's 120 pages with 15 of those pages being pictures.
I recommend 100%! :)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews