Product Description

This Very Short Introduction provides an analytical narrative of the main events and developments in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1936. It examines the impact of the revolution on society as a whole--on different classes, ethnic groups, the army, men and women, youth. Its central concern is to understand how one structure of domination was replaced by another. The book registers the primacy of politics, but situates political developments firmly in the context of massive economic, social, and cultural change. Since the fall of Communism there has been much reflection on the significance of the Russian Revolution. The book rejects the currently influential, liberal interpretation of the revolution in favour of one that sees it as rooted in the contradictions of a backward society which sought modernization and enlightenment and ended in political tyranny.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33317 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Stephen Smith is Professor of History at the University of Essex. He works on the social history of the Russian and Chinese revoltuions and is author of Red Petrograd: Revolution in the Factories, 1917-1918 (Cambridge University Press, 1983), and A Road is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-27 (Curzon Press, 2000).

Customer Reviews

Russian Revolution
This is a very concise chronological accout of the Revolution of 1917. The book deals well with the context of the situation of Russia, detailing the failings and popular views of the Tsarist regime. It goes on to detail the events of 1917 and the eventual Bolshevik Revolution in October. Without getting bogged down the book introduces the various ideologies of the factions contesting power, as well as a brief introduction to the main figeures, especially Lenin. The book is good a platform from which a full study of the doctrines, ideologies and impacts of the Revolution can be made.

Amazed by the power of introducing a complex subject in 170 pages
Bought the book for summertime and I was very pleased by the non-scholar tone, yet the book is filled with facts and very pleasant to read. I knew many aspects of the Russian revolution but the book did reveal many internal mechanisms used by the Bolsheviks to seize and stay in power - Congratulations