The Russian Revolution: A New History (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780465039906)

A "powerful revisionist history" (Times UK) illuminating the tensions and transformations of the Russian Revolution

In The Russian Revolution, acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin traces the events which ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced Communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation. Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover of the Russian Imperial Army, promoting mutinies and mass desertions of men in order to fulfill Lenin's program of turning the "imperialist war" into civil war. By the time the Bolsheviks had snuffed out the last resistance five years later, over 20 million people had died, and the Russian economy had collapsed so completely that Communism had to be temporarily abandoned. Still, Bolshevik rule was secure, owing to the new regime's monopoly on force, enabled by illicit arms deals signed with capitalist neighbors such as Germany and Sweden who sought to benefit-politically and economically-from the revolutionary chaos in Russia.

Drawing on scores of previously untapped files from Russian archives and a range of other repositories in Europe, Turkey, and the United States, McMeekin delivers exciting, groundbreaking research about this turbulent era. The first comprehensive history of these momentous events in two decades, The Russian Revolution combines cutting-edge scholarship and a fast-paced narrative to shed new light on one of the most significant turning points of the twentieth century.

Author: Sean McMeekin
ISBN-10: 0465039901
ISBN-13: 9780465039906
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 05/30/2017
Pages: 496
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.60lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.30w x 1.50d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2017
Library Journal 04/15/2017 pg. 96
Publishers Weekly 04/17/2017
Shelf Awareness 06/23/2017
Choice 11/01/2017