The Russian Revolution may well be the most misunderstood event in
modern history. In this fast-paced introduction, Neil Faulkner
debunks the myths that continue to shroud it, showing how a mass
movement of millions, organised in democratic assemblies, mobilised
for militant action and destroyed a regime of landlords, profiteers
and warmongers. Faulkner rejects caricatures of Lenin and the
Bolsheviks as authoritarian conspirators, 'democratic-centralists' or
the progenitors of Stalinist dictatorship; though short-lived, the
Revolution of October 1917 was an explosion of democracy and
creativity. Crushed by bloody counter-revolution, its socialist
vision was ultimately displaced by a monstrous form of bureaucratic
state-capitalism. Laced with first-hand testimony, this history
rescues the democratic essence of the revolution from its detractors
and deniers, offering a perfect primer for the modern reader.
Published in partnership with the Left Book Club.