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October: The Story of the Russian RevolutionIntroduction of the ebook: October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
Đánh giá : 3.91 /5 (sao)
In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later, it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked by not one but two revolutions?
This is the story of the extraordinary mont In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later, it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked by not one but two revolutions?
This is the story of the extraordinary months between those upheavals, in February and October, of the forces and individuals who made 1917 so epochal a year, of their intrigues, negotiations, conflicts and catastrophes. From familiar names like Lenin and Trotsky to their opponents Kornilov and Kerensky; from the byzantine squabbles of urban activists to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire; from the revolutionary railroad Sublime to the ciphers and static of coup by telegram; from grand sweep to forgotten detail.
Historians have debated the revolution for a hundred years, its portents and possibilities: the mass of literature can be daunting. But here is a book for those new to the events, told not only in their historical import but in all their passion and drama and strangeness. Because as well as a political event of profound and ongoing consequence, Miéville reveals the Russian Revolution as a breathtaking story.
From the Hardcover edition. …more
Review ebook October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
“We are sick and tired of living in debt and slavery. We want space and light.”
– Letter from Rakalovsk peasants, quoted by China Miéville, October
A nice narrative history of the Russian Revolution in 1917. This isn’t an academic book. This book, by design, is meant to be a nonintimidating book of narrative history for the curious. As we look back on the last 100 years, the Communist Revolution still has much to teach us. Hell, Steve Bannon is a self-described Leninist. We might want to pay CLOSE “We are sick and tired of living in debt and slavery. We want space and light.”
– Letter from Rakalovsk peasants, quoted by China Miéville, October
A nice narrative history of the Russian Revolution in 1917. This isn’t an academic book. This book, by design, is meant to be a nonintimidating book of narrative history for the curious. As we look back on the last 100 years, the Communist Revolution still has much to teach us. Hell, Steve Bannon is a self-described Leninist. We might want to pay CLOSE attention to the trains of the past.
I’m still trying to sort out exactly what I thought of this book. On one level it was well-written and paced (Miéville is a gifted story teller, obviously). He even makes the bureaucratic infighting of 1917 seem exciting. But while his technique is similar to others who have approached history or biography from a novelistic perspective, it doesn’t quite hit the level of literature (not quite Mailer or Capote) I was hoping for. Next to Miéville’s own books, it doesn’t rise to the top.
China Miéville is well-versed in political philosophy. Dude has a PhD in it (technically in Marxism and International Law). His own leftist politics is felt from the first to the last pages. That is where the book gets a bit messy for me. This is Red October told by a New Weird SF writer who also happens to be strongly involved in International Socialist causes. This is a bit like having Orson Scott Card write about Mormonism or having Ayn Rand write about Adam Smith. Sometimes gifted people who are “true believers” aren’t going to be the best/fairest critics of things they love. To be fair, Miéville spends a bit of the last few pages discussing how the ‘revolution’ went off the rails. But, he does’t dwell too much on it. It is uncomfortable to dwell too long on purges, gulags, and Stalin.
He also doesn’t have enough room here to properly examine most of the characters that appear. I would have loved to read more about Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, etc. Instead, this novel (constrained by an already large topic) passes over some crazy characters like eyes over an active chess board.
Anyway, I liked it (probably 3.5 tsars). Enjoyed it even. Like Red October, however, it was boring in parts and seemed constrianed by a leftist genius who at times seemed blind to the dangers of his own ideology. …more
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