A History of the Russian Revolution?

[Hermes]

Hey all, sorry for bothering you.

I was reading Richard Pipes' A Concise History of the Russian Revolution, but I'm not sure if it's just me, it seems really biased though. Even the introduction is inflammatory. Any suggestions for a better book would be greatly appreciated (or criticisms on my bias meter).

(also, offtopic, but if anyone knows a good Trotsky biography (not My Life)? I was reading Robert Service's Trotsky, but again, he pretty much stated that he was purposefully trying to give a negative view)

Also, any books that cover a larger timeframe than that are appreciated as well.

[Deicide]

For a Trotsky biography... I recommend this trilogy by Isaac Deutscher. Service's Trotsky biography is horrible, it's hardly fuel worthy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844673936/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

For an account of the Russian Revolution, you could try Trotsky's 'History of the Russian revolution'.

[Book O'Dead]

Pipes is unreliable. Trotsky, however, was there or close by as the events of the October uprising unfolded and has a lot of illuminating and edifying things to tell about this important and world-shaking episode.

Also, Brovisionist is right on for pointing Deutscher's three-volume bio of Trotsky. A great work of history and excellent literature. The Englishman E.H. Carr produced a very interesting history of the Bolsheviks. I found out about Carr & Deutscher first via a pamphlet titled 'Nature of Soviet Society' produced by the SLP (http://www.revleft.com/vb/slp.org) and currently available at their web site:

http://www.slp.org/litera2.htm

http://www.slp.org/pdf/others/sov_soc.pdf

[x359594]

Pipes is writing from a tendentious neoconservative position.

The standard histories are:

The History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky published in 1930 (issued in three volumes but available in a single volume.)

The Russian Revolution; 1917-1921 (two volumes) by William Henry Chamberlain originally published in 1935. Chamberlain was there as a journalist and did primary research in the USSR during the late 1920s. Still good.

Brief histories include The Russian Revolution: From Lenin to Stalin 1917 to 1929 by E.H. Carr and The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick.

For an anarchist account there's The Unknown Revolution by Voline.

[ComradeOm]

See both links in my sig for an 'anti-Pipes' reading of 1917 and a bibliography, respectively. Today the best single volume history that I'd recommend is Wade's The Russian Revolution

[Lev Bronsteinovich]

I want to add to the chorus of comrades recommending Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution. Trotsky is a wonderful writer, his nickname in revolutionary circles in Russia was, "the Pen." E.H. Carr's Three volume set on the Soviet Union, The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923 is excellent and provides sharp details not readily available elsewhere. If you want to go bonkers, Carr produced a 14 volume set covering Soviet History from 1917 to 1929. Alexander Rabinowhich's The Bolsheviks Come to Power, is also a fine book although I think it is long out of print.

Deutcher's trilogy on Trotsky is the gold standard.

(http://www.amazon.com/Bolshevik-Revolution-1917-1923-History-Soviet/dp/0393301958/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1337466677&sr=8-5)

[Grenzer]

Alexander Rabinowhich's The Bolsheviks Come to Power, is also a fine book although I think it is long out of print.

No it's not, it's Carr's book that are out of print for the most part. I just got a brand new printing of Rabinowitch's trilogy recently. Carr is pretty much the authoritative source on the early Soviet Union.

Trotsky's History is pretty good, but as with all things he wrote, there is a fair bit of opportunism and shameless self promotion involved, but it's not too bad.

[Tim Finnegan]

I'd strongly recommend The Russian Revolution, 1917 by Rex Wade (http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Revolution-Approaches-European-History/dp/0521602424/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1337472423&sr=8-2). Written as an undergraduate text, so it's accessible without being over-simplistic, and the current edition is 2005 so it's very up to date in terms of the scholarship. It only covers the February Revolution until the dismissal of the Constituent Assembly, so it might not cover everything you're looking for, but it's definitely somewhere to start. (It's also quite a good text for leftists, because it explicitly recognises the working class and peasantry as active participants in the revolution, rather than reducing them to the constituency of this-or-party, as both bourgeois and "Leninist" historians are very keen to do.)

[ComradeOm]

I'd avoid Carr, the multi-volume work at least, until you have a real interest and prior understanding. His works, including later collaborations with Davies, are excellent in tracing the political minutiae of the period but are a) not for those new to the topic, b) political in focus and c) somewhat outdated by now

Rabinowitch is fantastic but his trilogy is very much a history of the Bolsheviks, not the Revolution. Worth reading but only when you're familiar with the broader topic

[Robespierres Neck]

The Ten Days that Shook the World is a good read, although it only covers the beginning events. It was written by an American communist (and the only one) that traveled to Russia and witnessed it firsthand. He's the only citizen from the US who is buried in the Kremlin.

[x359594]

...He's [John Reed] the only citizen from the US who is buried in the Kremlin.

Big Bill Haywood of the IWW has a portion of his ashes buried with the rest at Waldhiem Cemetery interned near the Haymarket Martyrs.