Conspirator: Lenin in Exile

by Helen Rappaport

The father of Communist Russia, Vladimir Ilych Lenin now seems to have emerged fully formed in the turbulent wake ofWorldWar I and the Russian Revolution. But Lenin?s character was in fact forged much earlier, over the course of years spent in exile, constantly on the move, and in disguise. In Conspirator, Russian historian Helen Rappaport narrates the compelling story of Lenin?s life and political activities in the years leading up to the revolution. As he scuttled between the glittering capital cities of Europe—from London and Munich to Vienna and Prague—Lenin found support among fellow émigrés and revolutionaries in the underground movement. He came to lead a ring of conspirators, many of whom would give their lives in service to his schemes.A riveting account of Lenin?s little-known early life, Conspirator tracks in gripping detail the formation of one of the great revolutionaries of the twentieth century.

Genres: History, Biography, Russia, Nonfiction, Politics, Russian History, Russian Revolution

416 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2009

About the author

Helen Rappaport is a historian specialising in the Victorian period, with a particular interest in Queen Victoria and the Jamaican healer and caregiver, Mary Seacole. She also has written extensively on late Imperial Russia, the 1917 Revolution and the Romanov family. Her love of all things Victorian springs from her childhood growing up near the River Medway where Charles Dickens lived and worked. Her passion for Russian came from a Russian Special Studies BA degree course at Leeds University. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt by Leeds for her services to history. She is also a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Genealogical Society, the Society of Authors and the Victorian Society. She lives in the West Country, and has an enduring love of the English countryside and the Jurassic Coast, but her ancestral roots are in the Orkneys and Shetlands from where she is descended on her father's side. She likes to think she has Viking blood.

Helen is the author of 14 published books with 2 forthcoming in 2022:

"In Search of Mary Seacole: The Making of a Cultural Icon" - Simon & Schuster UK, 17 February 2022

"After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris through Revolution and War" - St Martin's Press USA, 8 March 2022

For her next project she is working on a biography of Juliane of Saxe-Coburg aka Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia

Follow her also on Facebook at:
HelenRappaportWriter

Reviews

[Sooz · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have to admit about two-thirds of the way through i started to skim. sixteen years in exile is a l00000ng time, and Rappaport gives exhastive detail about each place he stayed, each conference he attended .... a little more exile then i was looking for .... i was eager for him to return to Russia. i will also admit i knew little about these early years of Lenin, and i feel i gained tremenduous insight into his character through this book. i think i would have called Lenin a fanatic .... now i'm not so sure. a fanatic is devoted - blindly and perhaps unreasonably devoted- to an idea or cause. it seems to me that Lenin is too filled with self-importance and too much the power-monger to be a servant to an idea..... rather he used ideas to suit his purpose and when they no longer suited him he expunged them without hesitation, much the way he expunged individuals who no longer suited his needs. one sees how things became as they did in Russia because of his fanatic need to be in complete control. i think this sums up things up quite concisely:
'Lenin seemed to endorse the values of Land & Freedom for the peasants, but the peasant's ideas differed greatly form the ideas of the Bolsheviks. the peasants were basically anarchist that wanted to be free of taxes, conscription and official interference. they were not interested in large scale production or progress. this proved to be problematic for Lenin and the Bolsheviks'.

Lenin turned out to be problematic for the peasants.

AND ... (!!) ... Lenin wasn't even in Russia for the Revolution - the true revolution wherein the people came together and over threw the Czar - he didn't even help plan it! he had no idea until it was over that the Winter Palace had been taken and the Czar and his family were taken hostage.

i think (maybe like a lot of people only vaguely familiar with Russian history) that all that happened was 'the Russian Revolution' rather that two seperate things. firstly a true people's revolution, followed shortly thereafter by something resembling a civil war wherein fractions fought for power and the people suffered. and suffered. and suffered. this book introduced the idea that it was not the revolution that was the cause of the suffering ... rather it was the same old crap (be it Czar or Bolshevik) for power.

[Paul Norton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book is so badly vitiated by errors regarding the general history of the Russian revolution that it is very difficult to take it seriously in relation to what is specific and original about its account of Lenin's life and work. To take the most glaring example, Rappaport claims that, after being exiled from Petrograd following the "July Days", Lenin did not return until after the October Revolution had been completed. Lenin's presence at the Bolshevik Central Committee meeting of 10 October that decided on the Bolshevik seizure of power was one of the pivotal events in the revolution.

The concept for this book is a good one, but the book that executes it successfully is probably yet to be written. Perhaps, however, it is unfair to lay too much blame on Rappaport personally for the decline in the standard of scholarship on Russian/Soviet history (albeit with some notable exceptions) that followed the collapse of the USSR in 1991, for reasons outlined by Eric Hobsbawm in some of his commentary at the time.

[Erin Magill]

I went into this wondering if I really needed to know all the details of Lenin's life in the 16 years before 1917, and the verdict is that I do not. However, the book was interesting on the whole because Lenin's personal story IS the story of the Bolshevik party, which at times was barely more than one person. Following Lenin through his debates, conferences, and falling-outs with the other revolutionary factions, you see the development of the party and that became the government of the Soviet Union.

I was especially struck by how the Bolsheviks were considered radical extremists even among the other Russian Marxists, and how many of their positions that seem problematic to me (consolidating power under one man, fundraising through bank robbery because any means were justified, seizing all land as state property...) were in fact also considered problematic in 1916. This book gives context to how this particular group of extremists ended up rising to power, over other factions who seem more in line with the left-leaning politics I'm familiar with in 2025.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to other people who have already heard a lot about Marxism-Leninism, but have never quite grasped what it means.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Conspirator' has two interesting aspects: First, it's a good guide for staking out Lenin's haunts around Europe. Second, and more importantly, it shines light on the women in Lenin's life much more than any other biography I've read so far. Other than that the book adds little to earlier accounts and sits squarely in the Cold War discourse about the Russian Revolution. It is very thin on Lenin's thought and even Cold Warrior Robert Service manages to try to understand Lenin (but not Stalin or Trotsky, mind you) better than this book. It continues to amaze me how this Whiggish Cold War genre still survives. Perhaps as we increasingly see the dark side of our own system we need to repeatedly remind ourselves that socialism didn't work out either? The book will, I'm sure, cater to a certain crowd, like the previous reviewer who recommends it 'with five stars to any student of the Russian Revolution and the madmen behind it'. These are the same people who call Marxist historians 'ideological'...

[Heikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen Rappaport's book on Lenin's years in exile is a wonderful, fulfilling book.

It is one of the best books I've read on modern history, well on a par with Montefiore's work on Stalin and Service's biography on Lenin.

Rappaport traces in minute detail Lenin's ordeal in the wilderness, hampered by dissent, lack of funds, the need to find true believers to follow him, and the slow pace of the revolution. He travels between Paris, London, Zurich, Geneva and a lot of other places, never satisfied, never willing to wait a little for his dream to become true and revolution to happen in Russia.

In contrast to Service, Rappaport doesn't read too much into the execution of Lenin's oder brother as a spark that lit Lenin's revolutionary mind. Instead she puts a lot of effort into explaining how Lenin's need for a revolution arises from his pure and doctrinally perfect reading of Marx.

It is this drive for a true Marxist revolution that was Lenin's holy Grail, and in the search of it, he burned his bridges, enemies, and allies alike. If you didn't understand Marx the way Lenin did, you were not his ally, and thus, you were expendable.

Much of the book is spent showing how people come into contact with Lenin and how he quickly senses whether someone can be trusted to work for the ideal of a Marxist coup. What is utterly fascinating is how Rappaport cleanly and effectively lists all the people we've come to associate with the 1917 revolution and the subsequent Soviet rule, and exposes how the relationships with Lenin developed.

Two destinies arise from this mass to shine more brightly, and more sadly. Those are Nadya, Lenin's long-suffering wife, and Inessa Armand, who both sacrificed their own Socialist ideals in support of Lenin's monomaniacal quest for Marxist glory. Nadya especially comes across as an utterly human, loving character, who was wholly blinded by Lenin's willpower, and who deserved so much more than she ever got.

Another well-developed theme is that of the Okhrana and other Tsarist organizations, which were able to track the revolutionaries with ease and report on what pillar Lenin used to like to sit by at the British Museum. and who would attend the tragicomically conspiratorial Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party meetings. What strikes the reader is, how can they possibly have been so lax as to banish people to Siberia and then forget about them, allowing them to pop up in Geneva after four months of trekking across Russia? Surely they could have been as effective as Stalin later was, letting people freeze to death. But for some reason the Tsarists didn't really care until it was too late.

There's nuggets of information I was never aware of, even if I consider myself well read in Finnish history. I did not know, for example, that there were British officers at the Finnish grand duchy - Swedish border in the North in 1917, and that these officers were later ridiculed for allowing Lenin enter Russia on the Sealed Train. Lenin's hair-raising escape from Finland to Sweden across pack ice and other dangers was also a most fascinating passage.

No book is perfect, and this one's main fault is in the editing. Lenin's journeys covered a lot of countries and a lot of places, and I was unhappy to see names misspelt in the Finnish and Swedish sequences. For example, there's no such place as Stutorget, but Stortorget. Russians would not have referred to Helsinki as Helsingfors, the name used by the previous tenants, the Swedes. Typos are rife, and there's a strange vacillation between Finnish and Swedish names. I was surprised at this, because Rappaport credits the Finnish Lenin Museum's strong man Aimo Minkkinen, but did not have him check the names.

That is minor still - I recommend this with five stars to any student of the Russian Revolution and the madmen behind it.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s done!!!!!!

Russian history plagues me life. It’s the reason I didn’t get an A at a level (and girl worked incredibly hard, for ten hours a day) , I’ve even been to Russia many moons ago to try and see some of it in action (but I had a terrible time and left before we got to Moscow lol)

I started this book a year ago, lost interest, saw it in the library again and forced myself to read it. I found the physical copy so hard to read with its tiny text I did pay 3.99 for the kindle book. Dedication. It’s a good book, which goes into LOTS of detail on Lenin’s life. I’m surprised she didn’t report on what he had for dinner each night, and indeed sometimes she does. However, it is fascinating and I loved the insight into the women in Lenin’s life. At times Lenin reminded me of my horrible past man (refuse to use the term situationship anymore) , so inconsiderate!

Overall, great book which casts a light on the often overlooked aspects of Lenin’s life, but I’m glad I’ve read it finally. It is so weird to me that he was a real man, and all the people mentioned in this book had real lives and real feelings.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Rappaport can make a great narrative out of any historical story, even Lenin’s boring life in exile.

Helen does it again with this book describing Lenin’s years in exile prior to the 1917 revolution, turning years of study and political infighting into interesting insight, mainly into the personal journey of Lenin and his long-suffering wife, Nadya. These long years of reading, writing and speech making does not make for exciting reading on the surface but Rappaport’s abilities to delve below the surface to place a human face on events is on display yet again.

Recommend this book for those that want to see a Lenin other than the revolutionary icon described by Soviet hagiographers.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Rappaport is one of my favorite historians. This book detailed Vladamir Lenin's years spent in exile, traveling through European cities and garnering support. The people and ideas he was exposed to bolstered his revolutionary ideas. He was into all sorts of things, including leading a group of other like minded revolutionaries. This book was very interesting, and I learned quite a lot about Lenin. Prior to this, I knew the name, but nothing about the person himself. I didn't know he was into bank robberies and other wild schemes. It is always really interesting to me to see what it is about these people that make other people follow them and give their lives for these leaders. I would recommend this book, and also recommend checking out other books by this author.

[Martin Weigand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book.
You could call this book, "The Lenin you don't know" because it shows the Lenin, living in exile, uncertain about his future, long before he come to power in Russia.
The book is filled with many interesting facts and stories about Lenin in those many long years and what he thought about his places of exile and refuge and what he thought about his fellow Russians who were living abroad with, or near him: pondering their uncertain future and dreaming of taking absolute power one day in Russia. If you love Russian history or biography of powerful world leaders, I highly recommend this book.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not finish because i wanted to read Sukhanov's book on the revolution (just arrived), but this was great reading. Slogging though the decades of Lenin back and forth to england, belgium, russia and switzerland 1900 on up. Not particularly new for me, but lots of great detail and balanced account by author.

[Renée · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some unique narrative, interesting details about Lenin's travels and relationships, but too meandering in parts and too much of a Red Scare shadow over the whole thing... A tired, narrow point-of-view that belongs back towards the mid-20th century.

[Murray Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully told story.

[ananya · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm so glad to be done w this

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conspirator tells the history of Lenin’s time in exile and the path he took to becoming the dominant revolutionary that the world remembers. The Lenin that we see in Rapport’s book is a very different Lenin who is intellectual and learning the political ropes throughout various European capitals while bidding his time for influence in Russia. During the 16 years that Lenin spent on the run we see him for his political speeches and the times he is taking money from family members and living on a diet of cabbage and sausage while letting his disciples in Russia head to Siberia. At the end of the day we see Lenin’s political genius for what it was but his various character flaws are well detailed along the way. Overall it is a well written book meant for the person devoted to learning more about Lenin. This is not a book for casual readers of the subject but gives a great historical account on what happened and how Lenin became the man he was leading Russia.

[Helen Azar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a couple of other Lenin biographies in the past, none of which went into too much detail about his exile years. I learned a good amount from this well-researched book, including the fact that exile for him was not unpleasant at all, but seemed more of an extended vacation abroad and/or in the Russian countryside. I liked some small personal anecdotes included in the book (like the one where a librarian from one of the libraries Lenin used to frequent abroad asked "whatever happened to that nice fellow Ulianov?" - this was after Lenin was already in power). Based on this book I also began to appreciate the fact that Lenin was not necessarily an unlikable person.

[Jon Wakeham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched and well-written book about one of the great figures of the early twentieth century. Ulyanov appears as a monomaniacal, intolerant, self-obsessed figure with virtually no sense of humour. His wife and mistress come out of this rather better, with Inessa Armand described in almost entirely positive terms.
I read this book as part of my research for a novel I recently finished. As such it is did its job very well. It is relatively easy to read while retaining the intellectual rigour required of a serious history book.
The first book in the series is available on Amazon: Troubled Waters by Jon Wakeham

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conspirator focuses in on Lenin's political activism prior to 1917, a life of constant movement across the world- filled with intrigue, danger, and long hours of work. Rapport finds the interesting details of even Lenin's less glamorous days in exile, and presents him as fairly as any post-Soviet western observer can. She covers the material with enthusiastic flair and the result is a book that's deep and engaging. So far it's the best I've read on Lenin, even though it doesn't cover his Soviet career.

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in espionage, the turn of the 20th century, or Soviet history.

[Davy Shillinglaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping account of Lenin's life in exile spoiled only by the last chapter where the author feels it necessary to reveal her prejudices. I don't think there is enough evidence to suggest that Lenin died of syphilis. It is far more likely that he was poisoned by Stalin, either soon after being promoted to general secretary of the party, and now being in pole position to succeed him, or after discovering Lenin's intention to denounce him with the Testament. There was no toxicology analysis of tissue allowed at the autopsy.

[Graham Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rappaport describes the personal and political development of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov over the space of thirty years: from his birth in the provincial town of Simbirsk near the Volga River in 1887 to Finland Station, Petrograd, in 1917, where the man now known as Lenin returns to Russia after many years of exile.

Conspirator provides a thorough and informative account of the formative years of one of the 20th century's most seminal figures. Rappaport's vivid depiction of Lenin's rootless life explains his determination to create an unrelenting new order in Russia. Highly recommended.

[Nick Harriss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covered Lenin's life for the period prior to him coming to power. It was interesting, but I have to say the minutiae of the of the internal intellectual battles of the different socialist factions was rather easy to skim through. A useful filler for people interested in Russian history as this part of his life is frequently missing (probably because it happened outside Russia!).

[Joseph Sellors · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning historical biography. Rappaport delves in to the life of a very complex figure, and does so in a very thought provoking way.

The book is extremely well written, and succeeds in showing Lenin's true personality, looking past the myth's of the cult of Lenin at what really made the man.

[Melanie Reed]

I can't remember now why I though this would be good... turns out Lenin lead a very boring life in exile. Writing, raging, and forever going to obscure little conferences.

[Velvetink]

10 cent score

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10