Petrograd, 1917: Witnesses to the Russian Revolution

(Hardback)

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Description

The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution irrevocably changed the course of history, with consequences still being felt a century later. This book offers a dramatic depiction of the chaotic events of the revolution, drawn from selected firsthand accounts.
Assembling extracts from letters, journals, diaries, and memoirs from a remarkably diverse cast of both Russians and foreign nationals who were there when the revolution broke,Petrograd, 1917is a strikingly close-up account of these world-shaking events. Each entry is supplemented with a short introductory note that sets it in context, and the book is rounded out with more than seventy illustrations, including photographs of the Romanovs and the violence in the streets as well as propaganda posters, postcards to loved ones, and more. In these pages, the drama and terror of those days comes to life once more, a century on.

Reviews

This gripping book takes us right back to what it was like to have been in Petrograd (later Leningrad, later St Petersburg) as the world-shaking revolutionary events unfolded. Gleaned from scores of different accounts from non-Russians great and obscure, and presented in a scholarly yet highly accessible way, John Pinfold takes us through the extraordinary narrative almost day-by-day. One moment were witnessing Lenin making speeches in the snow, the next with Tsar Nicolas II as he faces execution. This is invaluable eye-witness history at its very best.' -- Prof Andrew Roberts

Author Bio

John Pinfold was Rhodes House Librarian from 1993-2008. He is the author of 'Postcards from the Russian Revolution', 'Postcards of Lost Royals' and 'Postcards from Utopia' (Bodleian Library Publishing). His most recent book is 'Aintree The History of the Racecourse' (2016).