Publisher Description

Rex A. Wade presents an essential overview of the Russian Revolution from its beginning in February 1917, through the numerous political crises under Kerensky, to the victory of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution. This thoroughly revised and expanded third edition introduces students to new approaches to the Revolution's political history and clears away many of the myths and misconceptions that have clouded studies of the period. It also gives due space to the social history of the Revolution, incorporating people and places too often left out of the story, including women, national minority peoples, peasantry, and front soldiers. The third edition has been updated to include new scholarship on topics such as the coming of the Revolution and the beginning of Bolshevik rule, as well as the Revolution's cultural context. This highly readable book is an invaluable guide to one of the most important events of modern history.

Author Biography

Rex A. Wade is a widely recognised expert on the Russian Revolution. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including The Russian Search for Peace, February-October 1917 (1970) and Red Guards and Works' Militias in the Russian Revolution (1984), as well as many scholarly articles on the revolutionary and civil war eras. He is a long-term active member of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies and of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies (former President, and recipient of its Senior Scholar Award), among other professional associations and scholarly activities.

Table of Contents

List of plates; List of maps; Preface; Preface to the second edition; Chronology; 1. The coming of the Revolution; 2. The February Revolution; 3. Political realignment and the new political system; 4. The aspirations of Russian society; 5. The peasants and the purposes of revolution; 6. The nationalities: identity and opportunity; 7. The summer of discontents; 8. 'All power to the Soviets'; 9. The Bolsheviks take power; 10. The Constituent Assembly and the purposes of power; 11. Conclusions; Notes; Further reading; Index.

Review

Review of first edition: '… students and the interested general public will choose Wade's book not only for his 'rethinking our narrative and interpretation of several major features of the revolution' but also for the enjoyment of engaging with a good history of one of the seminal events of the last century that is well told.' Anthony Bidgood, Eras Journal
Review of first edition: 'Read Wade, Rex Wade, his The Russian Revolution, 1917 ends logically with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in January 1918; it combines traditional history from above with more recent history from below; it has no ideological preconceptions; it is new, admirably brief, and it is good.' Carter Elwood, Revolutionary Russia
Review of first edition: 'Rex Wade has written an excellent short history of the Russian Revolution.' Graeme Gill, Russian Review
Review of first edition: 'Rex Wade's succinct book is reliable and judicious … it is exemplary in its clear exposition of the latest historical literature.' BBC History Magazine
Review of first edition: 'This work is, without a doubt, the best single-volume treatment of the 1917 revolution ever published in English … a remarkably readable synthesis of exceptionally diverse recent scholarship … Rex Wade has done the field a great service with the publication of The Russian Revolution, 1917, which is bound to become a standard choice of syllabi in Russian history of the revolutionary period.' Slavic Review
Review of first edition: 'Wade has written a very reliable largely political account produced to a very high standard of accuracy of information and absence of factual and typographical error.' Europe-Asia Studies
Review of first edition: 'This magisterial account offers an analytically sharp and comprehensive narrative of the 1917 revolution that synthesizes the tremendous wealth of scholarship of the last thirty years.' Russian History
Review of first edition: '… it is a thoughtful and balanced work which logically describes the sequence and outcome of the events of 1917 … as of today it is the book that logically balances the many, divergent extremes of past interpretations of the Russian revolution.' Buldakov V. P., Otechestvennaya Istoriya

Promotional

This book explores the 1917 Russian Revolution from its February Revolution beginning to the victory of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in October.

Review Quote

Review of first edition: '... students and the interested general public will choose Wade's book not only for his 'rethinking our narrative and interpretation of several major features of the revolution' but also for the enjoyment of engaging with a good history of one of the seminal events of the last century that is well told.' Anthony Bidgood, Eras Journal

Promotional "Headline"

This book explores the 1917 Russian Revolution from its February Revolution beginning to the victory of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in October.

Description for Bookstore

Providing an overview of the Russian Revolution from February 1917 to the victory of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, Rex A. Wade explores the role of political, cultural and economic issues alongside the social history of the Revolution and the growth of ethnic separatism in the Ukraine and elsewhere.

Description for Library

Providing an overview of the Russian Revolution from February 1917 to the victory of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, Rex A. Wade explores the role of political, cultural and economic issues alongside the social history of the Revolution and the growth of ethnic separatism in the Ukraine and elsewhere.

Details