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A People's History of the Russian Revolution
- Left Book Club
- Narrated by: Douglas Storm
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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A People's History of the Russian Revolution
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Summary
The Russian Revolution may be the most misunderstood and misrepresented event in modern history, its history told in a mix of legends and anecdotes. In A People's History of the Russian Revolution, Neil Faulkner sets out to debunk the myths and pry fact from fiction, putting at the heart of the story the Russian people who are the true heroes of this tumultuous tale. In this fast-paced introduction, Faulkner tells the powerful narrative of how millions of people came together in a mass movement, organized democratic assemblies, mobilized for militant action, and overturned a vast regime of landlords, profiteers, and warmongers.
Faulkner rejects caricatures of Lenin and the Bolsheviks as authoritarian conspirators or the progenitors of Stalinist dictatorship and forcefully argues that the Russian Revolution was an explosion of democracy and creativity - and that it was crushed by bloody counterrevolution and replaced with a form of bureaucratic state-capitalism.
Grounded by powerful firsthand testimony, this history marks the centenary of the revolution by restoring the democratic essence of the revolution, offering a perfect primer for the modern listener.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liz... Bristol
- 12-05-24
An account of the events which doesn’t come from a capitalist viewpoint.
I’ve always had an interest in the Russian Revolution, and I got this in hope of a fair hearing for the bolsheviks and some others. Well, I struck lucky! This wasn’t the usual hatchet job on the rise of the devil and all his mates. The author has both done his research and isn’t plagued by feeling that he needs to make up for the lack of capitalist control ever since. He plainly saw that the majority of Russian people were very badly treated under the tsarist regime and were ready to be listened to and take action to improve their lot. There were shortages everywhere, with only the royal family not suffering too much. Life for the peasants and lower classes was abysmal. The troops were fighting the Great War without proper equipment and uniforms, while at home they were being used to suppress the unhappy workers who tried to protest.
Yes, there was chaos amongst the various political factions vying to assert some control. Many of them had some effect at different points, but when the clock stopped it was Lenin’s Bolsheviks that had the numbers. It took a while to get to grips with the total mess that the royal family’s regime had created. Lenin had only seen a revolution as possible if other countries followed suit. Lenin’s health didn’t hold out, and despite him warning his party about Stalin’s control of the bureaucracy. Neil Faulkner explains that with Lenin’s passing the communist way passed too, as Stalin brought his top-down influence into play. Thus ended the communist approach to government. Stalin was not a real communist, despite claiming to be. He was a control-freak who killed many, many party members that he didn’t trust.
This history carries the listener forward with impetus, much as John Reed’s own recording of these events (Ten Days That Shook the World) does. (Reed is quoted here). I will listen to this again. There is no doubt that there are books that cover these events in much greater space than Faulkner does, but not necessarily without their own ideologies affecting the tale. This author left me wondering how differently events might have gone had Lenin lived to hold off the rise of Stalin and maintained the experiment that his new way of governing brought to the fore. An excellent recounting of the downfall of the royal family in Russia that doesn’t dwell upon Nicholas and Alexandra unnecessarily.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-06-20
Great Book, Fair Historian
For anyone who wishes to study the Russians Revolution as a guide for action today.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-06-23
So happy I found this
This I exactly what I was looking for, a great analysis of the Russian revolution
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