You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
benpurvis42 's review for:
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution
by China Miéville
An accessible narrative history of the Russian Revolution. Miéville begins by setting the scene of Russia on the eve of the 1917 February revolution: the Romanov dynasty and its paltry concessionary reforms, the failed 1905 revolution, and the early machinations of various relevant political groups. This short introduction is followed by a month by month account of events from February to October, with an epilogue briefly covering future events and a reflection on their inevitability or not.
With each chapter dedicated to a month's events, primarily centring on Petrograd, the pacing is inevitably somewhat juddery to start. Yet Miéville knows how to tell a story and grapples well with a huge cast of characters and the labyrinthine political developments of the various relevant groupings. This is aided my an appended glossary of personal names (though not exhaustive), though would have benefited from a similar glossary detailing the various groupings, committees and organisations that are peppered throughout the story.
I am by no means an expert, but this work reads as meticulously researched (though not an academic text, Miéville presents a selection of further reading with a short description of each relevant text). With the caveat that my personal political views are probably quite similar to Miéville's, it also feels fairly even handed. Miéville's sympathy clearly lies with the revolution, yet this support is far from uncritical. There are no real heroes and villains. Lenin the hero of the revolution is nowhere to be seen, instead we see an ill-tempered writer and orator, much more swept along by the chaotic churn of events than leading them. The epilogue laments the rapid descent from hopeful optimism to authoritarianism, statism, and the crushing of dissent.
With each chapter dedicated to a month's events, primarily centring on Petrograd, the pacing is inevitably somewhat juddery to start. Yet Miéville knows how to tell a story and grapples well with a huge cast of characters and the labyrinthine political developments of the various relevant groupings. This is aided my an appended glossary of personal names (though not exhaustive), though would have benefited from a similar glossary detailing the various groupings, committees and organisations that are peppered throughout the story.
I am by no means an expert, but this work reads as meticulously researched (though not an academic text, Miéville presents a selection of further reading with a short description of each relevant text). With the caveat that my personal political views are probably quite similar to Miéville's, it also feels fairly even handed. Miéville's sympathy clearly lies with the revolution, yet this support is far from uncritical. There are no real heroes and villains. Lenin the hero of the revolution is nowhere to be seen, instead we see an ill-tempered writer and orator, much more swept along by the chaotic churn of events than leading them. The epilogue laments the rapid descent from hopeful optimism to authoritarianism, statism, and the crushing of dissent.