The Russian Revolution

by Alan Moorehead

Book Overview

The Russian Revolution dismantled the ancient Tsarist autocracy and led to the rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II and the old regime was... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1125167114
• Release Date: January 1958
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12.0" x 2.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

You are there!

Most of the other posters have successfully analyzed the content of this book. But I will add my "dos centavos" here. This is a very good history of this event. It is aimed toward the general reader and instead of being filled with footnotes, charts, and other aspects of academia, it tells human stories behind the major and minor players in these events. It reads like a novel and gives you a "you are there" feel to it.

An Insight Into A Tragedy

"The Russian Revolution" provides the reader with a close look at one of the greatest tragedies of the Twentieth Century. Author Alan Moorehead does an excellent job in telling the story of the Revolution from its Nineteenth Century antecedents through to its conclusion.The reader becomes familiar with the world of the Czars, their insulation from the lives of their subjects and the Imperial Family's tragic journey to death at Ekaterinberg. We are taught that the Czars saw Russia as their own private business to be run for their benefit, with little or no concern for the welfare of the mass of Russian people.Czar Nicholas II emerges as a likable, but tragically flawed figure. As much as we respect him as a good family man and wish that he could have managed a peaceful transition to democracy, we cannot escape the conclusion that he was incapable of taking the steps necessary to avoid revolution and thereby save his nation and his family. With the coming of war, Nicholas could not resist the opportunity to lead the army in battle. Ultimately, the army camp became less of an opportunity for leadership than a refuge from the turmoil in Petrograd and Tsarkoye Selo.Lenin emerges as much more capable than Nicholas but, in a sense, equally as out of touch with the world as was his main protagonist. Although Lenin is seen in history as the leader of the Russian Revolution, the truth is that through much of his career he was a failure who drifted outside the mainstream of the revolutionary movement. During the years of exile, Lenin kept in contact with other exiled would-be revolutionaries, but had little influence on events within Russia. It was only after the initial revolution that Lenin returned to Russia with the assistance of the Germans who expected him to exert his influence to take Russia out of World War I. Lenin is seen as one who truly reaped what others sowed.One thing which this book does so successfully is to dispel the notion that the events of the Revolution were inevitable. Some events were, actually, almost incredible. Was it inevitable that the Czarevitch Alexei would suffer from hemophilia? How incredible is it that the Czarevitch's illness would enable Rasputin, an uncouth, disgusting, lecherous "Holy Man", to gain such incredible influence over Czarina Alexandra so as to make himself the defacto ruler of Russia? What chance was it that, from among the myriad of revolutionary personalities, Lenin, the brutal late arrival, would emerge as the dictator? What were the chances that Imperial Germany would cooperate in the overthrow of the Czar who, though being the Kaiser's enemy, was also a crowned head as well as his cousin? As I read about opportunities for the German Army or Navy to launch an offensive which would take advantage of revolutionary induced disarray in the Russian forces I find myself almost cheering for the offensive which would take Russia out of the war, but would also restore the Imperial system. At ti

Good book, unfortunately old

I picked this up at an old used book store: its binding glue was giving in, its cover was in tatters, and the design was typical cheesy 1950s. This book is old.It was commissioned by Life magazine and written in the late 1950s by Alan Moorehead, a skilled novelist/journalist who wrote a number of successful little books like this one on a variety of history-related topics. The main trigger of the book seems to be the recently discovered documents linking the Germans with funding for the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups in WWI. While that must have certainly be interesting at the time, its common knowledge now, so the amount of this book that is dedicated to expiating this new information may seem a little unnecessary.Needless to say, this was written in the height of the Cold War, about the touchiest of subjects. Moorehead says in the Introduction that he has set out to write a completely objective work, and I think he was sincere. There are a few oddities: the author feels drawn to the strange and impossible task, dubiously, of being Rasputin's apologist. He clearly dislikes Lenin, admires Trotsky with a sense of regret, and has strong feelings against the Bolsheviks. However, remarkably, he has a strong respect for Russia's other Socialist parties, especially the Mensheviks, and makes clear that Leninism is a distortion of Marxism, something that most of Russia and nearly all of the Socialist parties were strongly against. Moorehead is a gifted writer, and he brings the story alive with a novelist's talent. The book, if nothing else, is a great story, written well, and probably a decent introduction to the subject. Unfortunately, one is forced to admit that time has worn this piece out, and there are certainly better and more recent books that outdo it (at least on point of fact).

Exciting!

An intriguingly well written literary work. Moorehead takes the somewhat drab subject matter and forms it into an easy-to-read, interesting book!

excellent starting point

this book is very well written and easy to read. I was interested in learning about the Russian revolution and I found an ancient copy of this book in a used bookstore. It is an excellent total history of the Bolsheviks, and Lenin and a great launching point for more indepth research. My only concern is that the book is a bit old (written in the 1960's) during the cold war -- I was concerned a book from that era might contain inaccuracies. So far that fear has proven unfounded.