A People's History of the Russian Revolution

Abstract

The Russian Revolution may well be the most misunderstood event in modern history. In A People's History of the Russian Revolution, Neil Faulkner sets out to debunk the myths. In this fast-paced introduction to the tumultuous events, the Russian people are the heroes. Faulkner shows how a mass movement of millions, organised in democratic assemblies, mobilised for militant action, destroyed a regime of landlords, profiteers and warmongers. He rejects caricatures of Lenin and the Bolsheviks as authoritarian conspirators, 'democratic-centralists' or the progenitors of Stalinist dictatorship. He argues that the Russian Revolution was an explosion of democracy and creativity - and that it was crushed by bloody counter-revolution and replaced with a monstrous form of bureaucratic state-capitalism. Laced with first-hand testimony, this history seeks to rescue the democratic essence of the revolution from its detractors and deniers, offering a perfect primer for the modern reader. Introduction; Part I: The Spark, 1825-1916; 1. The Regime; 2. The Revolutionaries; 3. Lenin and the Bolsheviks; 4. The Great War; Part II: The Tempest, 1917; 5. The February Revolution; 6. Dual Power; 7. Counter-Revolution; 8. The October Days; Part III: The Darkness, 1918-1938; 9. World Revolution?; 10. The Revolution Besieged; 11. Stalinism. Introduction -- Part I: The spark, 1825-1916 -- ch. 1. The regime -- ch. 2. The revolutionaries -- ch. 3. Lenin and the Bolsheviks -- ch. 4. The Great War -- Part II: The tempest, 1917 -- ch. 5. The February Revolution -- ch. 6. Dual power -- ch. 7. Counter-revolution -- ch. 8. The October days -- Part III: The darkness, 1918-1938 -- ch. 9. World revolution? -- ch. 10. The revolution besieged -- ch. 11. Stalinism.