Looking for some book recommendations

[Widerstand]

... of, ideally, short books. By short, I mean somewhat around 200 or 300 pages (I realize that this may compromise quality, and I'm willing to suffer that).

On the following topics:

The Paris Commune (I reckon Marx wrote on that topic?)
The Russian Civil War/The Russian Revolution and the events leading up to it
The Spanish Revolution/Civil War

thanks in advance :)

[Iraultzaile Ezkerreko]

The only subject I've read much of anything on are the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War. On the Russian Revolution, you should read 10 Days That Shook The World which is a classic on the left. The only book I've been able to find in English (the only language I can read books of any density in) is The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor which is mostly from a neutral perspective and doesn't focus overly much on the politics, but is a good general overview and starting point.

[Red Commissar]

In regards Marx's thoughts on the Paris Commune, then you should probably take a look at the Civil War in France.

http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/index.htm

To find it in book form you'll have to dig around, and it's possibly compiled into other texts, but it's always under "The Civil War in France".

For the Russian Revolution if you want an outsider looking in, "Ten Days that Shook the World" is an interesting account from the American journalist John Reed. It's longer than what you're looking at, my copy is about 360 total pages. I think it is worth reading once you get a basic understanding of the history of the revolution.

ComradeOm has a thread of books relating to the Russian revolution here:

http://www.revleft.com/vb/introducing-revleft-historical-t120423/index.html

But they may be of varying lengths. He recommends starter books then more indepth ones.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

The Paris Commune (I reckon Marx wrote on that topic?)The Civil War in France (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/index.htm) (available online, follow the link)


The Russian Civil War/The Russian Revolution and the events leading up to itTen days that shook the world (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0141442123?ie=UTF8&tag=prikeypre-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0141442123) John Reed

The Russian Revolution (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199237670?ie=UTF8&tag=prikeypre-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0199237670) Sheila Fitzpatrick


The Spanish revolution/civil warHomage to Catalonia (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604443499?ie=UTF8&tag=prikeypre-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1604443499) George Orwell

[NoOneIsIllegal]

The Spanish Revolution/Civil War
"Anarchism and the City: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Barcelona, 1898-1937" - Chris Ealham

[Leninster]

Ten Days That Shook the World John Reed


Should be mentioned that this is a personal account of the Russian Revolution by an American in Russia rather than a historical summary of the events. Good read nonetheless.

[ComradeOm]

The Paris Commune (I reckon Marx wrote on that topic?)Marx's Civil War in France is worth reading as a contemporary analysis but I wouldn't recommend it as a work of history. Alistair Horne's The Terrible Year is a good short account of the Commune


The Russian Civil War/The Russian Revolution and the events leading up to itShelia Fitzpatrick's The Russian Revolution is a very concise history of the period from the Revolution to the mid-1930s. A good place to start. If you want a bit more detail, but still relatively short, then Rex Wade's The Russian Revolution is probably the introductory work available today. Check my sig for a more comprehensive list and reviews


The Spanish Revolution/Civil WarBeevor's The Spanish Civil War (reissued as The Battle for Spain) is the standard introductory work on the SCW

[Rjevan]

The Spanish Revolution/Civil War
"Spain - The Unfinished Revolution" by Arthur Landis. Downloadable thanks to Ismail: http://www.revleft.com/vb/spain-unfinished-revolution-t125390/index.html

[Jose Gracchus]

... of, ideally, short books. By short, I mean somewhat around 200 or 300 pages (I realize that this may compromise quality, and I'm willing to suffer that).

On the following topics:

The Paris Commune (I reckon Marx wrote on that topic?)

The Civil War in France.


The Russian Civil War/The Russian Revolution and the events leading up to it

Rex Wade's Russian Revolution, 1917. Maurice Brinton's "Bolsheviks and Workers' Control" (a short paper). Fitzpatrick also, as ComradeOm said above. Wade's book only covers up to 1918 with a few comments discussing the revolution prior to what was to come, but it does not develop the Civil War and formation of the early Soviet state.

Further studies are Israel Getzler's Kronstadt 1917-1921: Fate of a Soviet Democracy and Simon Pirani's The Russian Revolution in Retreat 1920-24: Soviet workers and the new communist elite.

Spain! The Unfinished Revolution is basically a total retelling of the Communist Party of Spain's line on the war. Don't read it (or read it after more broad sources) if you're trying to not get an openly partisan and polemical account.

[Red Rebel]

The Russian Civil War by Evan Mawdsley.

It isn't written by a leftists which sucks; however, I found this to be the most comprehensive English book on the Russian Civil War. If you can get by the occasional jab at the Bolsheviks.

As previously stated, Tend Days that Shook the World by John Reed is solid.

Behind Fascist Lines (http://www.biblio.com/search.php?tid=0&auid=0&stage=1&author=Starinov+A.&title=Behind+Fascist+Lines:+A), a firsthand account of guerrilla warfare during the Spanish Revolution, by A. K. Starinov, one of the Russian internationalists. You won't get a comprehensive of the war; however, it is a great read.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I don't really have anything to add here, other than to third the nomination of the Beevor book on the Spanish Civil War. That was a good read.

[milk]

The Russian Civil War by Evan Mawdsley.

It isn't written by a leftists which sucks; however, I found this to be the most comprehensive English book on the Russian Civil War. If you can get by the occasional jab at the Bolsheviks.

Indeed, a good book.

[x359594]

For the Commune Lissigary's eye witness account is compelling, especially as he was a participant who fought on the barricades. The book was translated into English by Eleanor Marx under the title The History of the Paris Commune of 1871.

[chimx]

Karl Marx's "book" (if you can really call it that) The Civil War in France is riddled with factual errors. Do not use it as your main source for information on the Paris Commune.

[Widerstand]

Karl Marx's "book" (if you can really call it that) The Civil War in France is riddled with factual errors. Do not use it as your main source for information on the Paris Commune.

What's a better book about the commune then? I'm especially interested in the Paris situation prior to the commune and the Haussmann restructuring.

[chimx]

It's not my area. I don't feel comfortable making recommendations as I don't have a firm grasp on the historiography of the commune, just read a few books here and there.

[Hoipolloi Cassidy]

I'm hesitant to recommend this in English, the translation (by an ex-teacher of mine) is pretty hackneyed. Still:
Jules Vallès, the Insurrectionist (L'Insurgé ). Vallès was a superb writer and journalist. The book is a barely fictionalized account of his youth and agitating during the Second Empire, and it concludes with his description of the end of the Commune, where he was a higher-up delegate. Some passages, like the fall of the barricade on rue de Bellleville and his attempt to escape amidst the carnage, are chilling. It's a great piece of literature.:thumbup1:

[Ismail]

The only book I've been able to find in English (the only language I can read books of any density in) is The Spanish Civil War by Antony Beevor which is mostly from a neutral perspective and doesn't focus overly much on the politics, but is a good general overview and starting point.Anthony Beevor's book isn't really "neutral." Paul Preston (who wrote a good book on the SCW which I do recommend, The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution and Revenge) called it so biased as to be almost useless (which is exaggerated, but still) and it definitely has an anti-PCE/Soviet bent. Landis' book is mostly polemical and dated (and obviously biased towards the PCE), but an alright read nonetheless. There is also Helen Graham's The Spanish Republic at War for good info on the domestic politics of the Republic, albeit not from an introductory standpoint.