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The Russian Revolution | 
 enlarge | Author: Sheila Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 34889
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0199237670
Dewey Decimal Number: 947.0841
EAN: 9780199237678
ASIN: 0199237670
Publication Date: March 20, 2008
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Product Description
The Russian Revolution had a decisive impact on the history of the twentieth century. Now, following the collapse of the Soviet regime and the opening of its archives, it is possible to step back and see the full picture of this event for the first time.
Impeccable in its scholarship and objectivity, this superb volume tells the gripping story of a Marxist revolution that was intended to transform the world, but instead visited enormous suffering on the Russian people, and, like the French Revolution before it, ended up devouring its own children. The author offers insightful descriptions of the February and October Revolutions of 1917, the Civil War, the interlude of NEP, Stalin's "revolution from above," the various Five-Year Plans, and the Great Purges--all treated as discrete episodes in a twenty-year process of revolution. The book incorporates data from archives that were previously inaccessible not only to Western but also to Soviet historians, as well as drawing on important recent Russian publications such as the memoirs of one of the great survivors of Soviet politics, Vyacheslav Molotov. In the Select Bibliography, the author highlights the most important of the recent scholarly works, directing readers to the burgeoning Western scholarship on the Russian Revolution in the last ten to fifteen years.
Shelia Fitzpatrick is an internationally known expert on Soviet history. This lively and readable Third Edition uses newly available Soviet archival material and the latest Russian and Western research to provide an authoritative, compact account of one of the key events of modern history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 The Russian Revolution did not end in 1920. February 10, 2003
Kevin M Quigg (Carol Stream, Illinois United States)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
Fitzpatrick's short book about the Russian Revolution is so concise one has to wonder if she skimped on the facts. This is not the case. Anybody reading the book can only remark that thickness is not indicative of weight. All one needs to know about the Russian Revolution is in this slim volume.
Fitzpatrick's main contention is that the Russian Revolution did not end in 1920, but rather in the 1930s when Stalin consolidated his power and put in place a new system which suceeded the Tsarist regime. Stalin did this by educating a new elite from the working class and placing them in the Party and Government. Future leaders came from this group. The two five year plans stabilized the revolution and placed a new order on the country.
I also found the characterization of Lenin good. Lenin put in place a situation which led to the rise of the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Lenin is seen as both good and bad.
There are more meaty books about the Russian Revolution. There is not one which is more concise and explains all the facts.
Great supplement to any Russian history class October 11, 1998
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
I read this book for a Russian History class, and I think Fitzpatrick does an excellent job of exploring the possibilities of this tumultuous era. It is a fast read and focuses on the heart of the matter. No extensive knowledge of Russian history is necessary to understand the main points of this book as she explains the context of all points.
 Concise to a fault June 14, 2004
B. Duff (Issaquah, WA USA)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
This book receives lots of kudos from other reviewers for being so concise. That it is, but I didn't experience that attribute as being as positive as the others. If the topic of the Russian Revolution is assigned reading for you and you want to get it out of the way as quickly as possible, get this book. On the other hand, if the topic fascinates you and you're looking to explore it, I expect you may find this book unsatisfying. Consider skipping this "appetizer" and going right for the main course somewhere else (not sure where that is yet, but I'll be looking for it).
 Revisionism September 11, 2006
Essex (Connecticut)
16 out of 30 found this review helpful
There are numerous books out debunking Fitzpatrick. Yale University's "Annals of Communism" series is a good place to start.
"In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage" by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr is an excellent read on how Fitzpatrick and other academics distort facts and lie through omission to minimize the atrocities of Lenin, Zinoviev, Radek, Trotsky, Stalin et al.
Read "A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia"
by Alexander N. Yakovlev. Yakovlev was the architect of perestroika. He was a communist. He had access to documents western researchers have not yet seen. Yakovlev details how the regime was a criminal organization from its founding, how mass executions began only months after Lenin seized power. The regime never had the support Fitzpatrick claims it did.
A Look at a 15-Year Long Revolution January 10, 2003
mwreview (Northern California, USA)
15 out of 20 found this review helpful
As the title indicates, the gist of Fitzpatrick's argument is that the Russian Revolution was not completed until 1932. Only at this time did the contours of Russian society become stable. Massive numbers of proletariats were educated and became bureaucrats who helped achieve Russian industrialization.Other points in this book are that: (1) The Bolshevik party was a mass party in 1917. Lenin was no murdering dictator but was a persuasive leader. His threat to resign from the party pushed the decision to sign the Brest-Litovsk treaty. (2) The peasants were suspicious of the Bolshevik aims to ignite class hatred in the countryside. The Bolsheviks needed to send thugs into the countryside to wage war on a reluctant peasantry in order to force industrialization on the nation. Although this book is relatively short, especially considering the time period covered, it is very meaty and requires careful reading to understand the main concepts.
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