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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
A good narrative history of the fallout after October '17. Meanders through the complexity of the soviet structure in an easy to follow and entertaining way, explaining the difficulties that faced the party from left to right. Despite China Mieville's own political leanings (they are an active socialist), they do not gloss over the misery that was a result of the revolution, it does not relish in it either (in so far as to boost the image of capitalism), Mieville simply states realities. I can recommend this as a good intro to the history of this landmark event, especially as most recounts often lean one way or the other.
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
[b: October: The Story of the Russian Revolution|31578250|October The Story of the Russian Revolution|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471889774s/31578250.jpg|52268284] is narrative history of the Russian Revolution in 1917. This book wasn't designed to be an academic book but an accessible one for those curious one of the most intriguing revolutions.
I would recommend this book to everyone who loves history or wants to learn about the Russian Revolution and the key players.
4.25 stars
I would recommend this book to everyone who loves history or wants to learn about the Russian Revolution and the key players.
4.25 stars
3.5: revolution is mostly luck, charisma and seizing the right moment. China gets A+ for vocab/style/narrative elements. Hard to get into without dece previous knowledge
Fave Russian name to mumble to myself: Shlyapnikov
Fave Russian name to mumble to myself: Shlyapnikov
I liked this book a lot. It goes into a lot of the heavy minutia of the Russian Revolution though it's important to make the distinction in what minutia it finds worth going into and that is meeting minutes baby! My main curiosity upon picking up this book was "how did it all go down" followed by "what was life like for everyone during the process?" I was expecting a lot of deep dives into that second question and sadly there really aren't. There are a lot of slice of life moments drawn out and details dropped in during one sentence that allude to how life went on between February and October 1917 but the main focus here is the political jockeying and machinations of the various revolutionaries, cabinets and soviets.
Did Kamonov abstain or vote in favor of a motion to declare their support for the idea of creating a new Military Revolutionary Committee before the next Soviet Congress!?!? What are the implications if he did!?!?! Boy I hope you find that question pressing because it and a hundred other questions like it take up half of this book. The other half is a riveting and highly informative telling of the frankly insane events that constitute the world's first successful(ish) socialist revolution.
There are moments of heartbreak, slapstick and sheer awe inspiring human cooperation that I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject but you should know going into it that a lot of primary sources are related to political meetings and their votes so that's where Mieville spends a lot of time. I also got the feeling reading this book that it probably made a lot of people very mad with how it portrayed some things but I am not waded deep enough into the waters of Trotskyites vs Leninites vs Stalinites to have an opinion there but I'm sure some other reviews do!
Did Kamonov abstain or vote in favor of a motion to declare their support for the idea of creating a new Military Revolutionary Committee before the next Soviet Congress!?!? What are the implications if he did!?!?! Boy I hope you find that question pressing because it and a hundred other questions like it take up half of this book. The other half is a riveting and highly informative telling of the frankly insane events that constitute the world's first successful(ish) socialist revolution.
There are moments of heartbreak, slapstick and sheer awe inspiring human cooperation that I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject but you should know going into it that a lot of primary sources are related to political meetings and their votes so that's where Mieville spends a lot of time. I also got the feeling reading this book that it probably made a lot of people very mad with how it portrayed some things but I am not waded deep enough into the waters of Trotskyites vs Leninites vs Stalinites to have an opinion there but I'm sure some other reviews do!
Earlier this year, I visited Trotsky's house in Mexico City with some friends, and we collectively realized that we knew less about the Russian Revolution than we ought to. As the group's chief socialist, I was particularly chastened and resolved to track down a good primer. When I returned home, I was thrilled to discover that not only was a new ground-level introductory take coming out soon, but the author was one of my favorites, [a:China Miéville|33918|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1243988363p2/33918.jpg]. Needless to say, I picked up the book as soon as it came out.
I wasn't disappointed. Mieville aims to tell the story of the Revolution as it would've felt to the people who were in it. The focus is clearly on the push and pull of the people in the streets, soviets, and council rooms as they struggle towards a better future. He captures the energy of the moment—the sense that anything could happen—and the way even the leaders of the revolution were often chasing behind.
Mieville doesn't pretend to be unbiased—He's clearly on the side of the revolutionaries—but he is fair; his portraits of the key players are positive without letting them off the hook for their failings. Because Mieville gives primacy to the revolution itself, major characters weave in and out of the story. I was surprised to see figures like Lenin and Trotsky disappear for long stretches of the story. Stalin is barely in it at all, though by the epilogue that becomes one of Mieville's points. Though what followed the revolution cannot be ignored, Mieville urges the reader to see the two as separate, to view the revolution as a moment of possibility that then took a tragic turn.
My only complaint is that the book moves fast. Mieville throws character, place, and political party names around at a pace that I sometimes struggled to keep up with. I did a lot of re-reading. And while the book includes a glossary of characters and a map, it doesn't provide anything similar for the various political factions that are such an important driving force in the narrative.
That said, if the book is not an easy read, it is an engaging one. And it's particularly enlightening in our fraught political moment. The situation in St. Petersburg, 1917, is not so different from the one we've found ourselves in 100 years later. If we are going to build a better future, it would be wise to study those who tried before us; we have a lot to learn from both their successes and failures.
I wasn't disappointed. Mieville aims to tell the story of the Revolution as it would've felt to the people who were in it. The focus is clearly on the push and pull of the people in the streets, soviets, and council rooms as they struggle towards a better future. He captures the energy of the moment—the sense that anything could happen—and the way even the leaders of the revolution were often chasing behind.
Mieville doesn't pretend to be unbiased—He's clearly on the side of the revolutionaries—but he is fair; his portraits of the key players are positive without letting them off the hook for their failings. Because Mieville gives primacy to the revolution itself, major characters weave in and out of the story. I was surprised to see figures like Lenin and Trotsky disappear for long stretches of the story. Stalin is barely in it at all, though by the epilogue that becomes one of Mieville's points. Though what followed the revolution cannot be ignored, Mieville urges the reader to see the two as separate, to view the revolution as a moment of possibility that then took a tragic turn.
My only complaint is that the book moves fast. Mieville throws character, place, and political party names around at a pace that I sometimes struggled to keep up with. I did a lot of re-reading. And while the book includes a glossary of characters and a map, it doesn't provide anything similar for the various political factions that are such an important driving force in the narrative.
That said, if the book is not an easy read, it is an engaging one. And it's particularly enlightening in our fraught political moment. The situation in St. Petersburg, 1917, is not so different from the one we've found ourselves in 100 years later. If we are going to build a better future, it would be wise to study those who tried before us; we have a lot to learn from both their successes and failures.
Okay. Helpful to have a straightforward narrative account of 2017 but I would have liked a bit more analysis I guess? He doesn't really deviate from the chronology all that much, there is a blizzard of names and institutions but not all that much characterization, and the prose is not particularly sparkling.