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A review by marthmuffins
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Miéville
3.0
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution - 3.5/5
A dense, well written account of Russia's February and October 1917 Revolutions, alongside a narrative of how the first transformed into the second. Mieville is obviously very passionate about the subject (as the fact that he took the time to write a book about it can attest) and he makes clear his biases right at the beginning. He is a Marxist and he does not try to disguise the fact that he is very sympathetic towards the various Socialist and Communist parties that play a part in the events.
However, broadly, he still tells the story of both Revolutions as fairly as he can, focusing in on the failings of each government that ultimately resulted in the Revolutions which threw them out, and the Civil War brewing against the new Socialist order as October closes. Initially we follow the Tsar's administration as it swept away by under the weight of public anger, replaced by the bickering between, and within, both the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet.
Some of the most interesting material covered though comes when the narrative leaves the streets of the Petrograd and gives brief looks in at what is happening in the rest of Russia. Learning a little about the All-Russian Muslim Women's Congress in Kazan, the political struggles under the shadows of oil derricks in Baku or the steady radicalisation of the Latvian Soviet in Riga brought home that this Revolution was not solely a Petrograd one but encompassed the entirety of Russia's Empire.
Overall, an engaging, well told history of the Russian Revolutions, clearly written with care and, whilst it is partisan in places, it doesn't fall fully into a Bolshevik apologist piece. Worth a read if you're interested in a critical moment in not only Russian but world history.
A dense, well written account of Russia's February and October 1917 Revolutions, alongside a narrative of how the first transformed into the second. Mieville is obviously very passionate about the subject (as the fact that he took the time to write a book about it can attest) and he makes clear his biases right at the beginning. He is a Marxist and he does not try to disguise the fact that he is very sympathetic towards the various Socialist and Communist parties that play a part in the events.
However, broadly, he still tells the story of both Revolutions as fairly as he can, focusing in on the failings of each government that ultimately resulted in the Revolutions which threw them out, and the Civil War brewing against the new Socialist order as October closes. Initially we follow the Tsar's administration as it swept away by under the weight of public anger, replaced by the bickering between, and within, both the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet.
Some of the most interesting material covered though comes when the narrative leaves the streets of the Petrograd and gives brief looks in at what is happening in the rest of Russia. Learning a little about the All-Russian Muslim Women's Congress in Kazan, the political struggles under the shadows of oil derricks in Baku or the steady radicalisation of the Latvian Soviet in Riga brought home that this Revolution was not solely a Petrograd one but encompassed the entirety of Russia's Empire.
Overall, an engaging, well told history of the Russian Revolutions, clearly written with care and, whilst it is partisan in places, it doesn't fall fully into a Bolshevik apologist piece. Worth a read if you're interested in a critical moment in not only Russian but world history.