A Brief History of 1917: Russia's Year of Revolution

My lifetime knowledge of Russian history had been limited to World War Two and that was about that! It was by sheer accident that I began to listen to an excellent podcast on its revolutionary history, and with that the appetite was certainly whetted for more. So dive I did into online resources with a vengeance, and then Russia invaded Ukraine. Timing!

I thought I had better read this “A Brief History” that had been on the shelf for a while. I have found Robinson's “A Brief History” series to usually be very good primers. This one is no different. Covering the events in chronological order with a few personal anecdotes from the children of the revolution thrown in for good measure, author Roy Bainton has produced a breezily written and useful primer for the absolute beginner. There is an illustrations section, a preface explaining the Julian and Gregorian calendars, a couple of perfunctory maps and his introduction makes interesting reading. The appendices are very useful with a chronology of events and an A to Z of political parties, prominent figures and organisations.

Considering this book was published in 2005 and the present circumstances that Russian finds itself in with the war in Ukraine, I was interested in a paragraph that the author wrote near the end of the historical narrative and will quote verbatim.

“Common workman. Dark people. In Russia and around the world, they still exist. They labour for long hours making trainers and sportswear in the sweat shops of the Far East. They work beneath the earth as children in the mines of South America. They beg in the streets and railway stations of India. Closer to the epicentre of the revolution what was once the ‘proletariat', visibly at least, has ceased to exist. We're the ones with the tattoos, the mobile phones, the credit cards, laptops, iPads and wide screen TV's.
What on earth Lenin and Trotsky would have made of us is anyone's guess”
Quite.

I will make one comment; from what I have listened to and read over the last couple of months as I have immersed myself in the Russian Revolutionary history there may be no bigger fool in modern history that Tsar Nicholas II, What he failed to see, understand etc etc and with that what his sheer blindness eventually foisted on the Russian people via the gangster that was Stalin deserves nothing but contempt.


Recommended to the beginner only.