From My Recent Past: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Terrorist

(Hardback)

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From My Recent Past is a memoir written by Russian revolutionary Grigory Gershuni (18701908), the infamous mastermind behind the Combat Organization (CO) of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR). Grigory Gershuni envisioned himself a knight fighting the dragon of injustice, a believer in a Russian revolution that would sweep away an autocratic regime that made killers of its own children! In his view, his personal mission was to cut off the head of that dragon, i.e. eliminate the cruelest, corrupt, and lawless agents of the repressive tsarist regime. Over the course of nine years (from 1902 to 1911), he engaged seventy-eight members of his Combat Organization to commit 263 terrorist acts, including the assassination of two government ministers, thirty-three governors-general, a vice-governor, as well as several admirals and generals. This book depicts his revolutionary activities, his arrest, and proceedings before a military tribunal, a death sentence verdict that was replaced at the last minute by a life sentence, and years of imprisonment in the Peter and Paul and Shlisselburg fortresses. It is presented here in English translation by Katya Vladimirov, with an introduction by Katya Vladimirov and an afterword by John P. Moran.

Reviews

Gershunis account of his time in prison for revolutionary terrorism is fascinating and throws light on Russia of the early 20th century, on the Russian revolutionary movement, and on broader issues of radical terrorism. Katya Vladimirovs fine introductionexplores Gershuni as a person andrevolutionary in hishistorical setting, while Morans postscript thoughtfully putshim within the broader framework of modern terrorism. -- Rex Wade
From My Recent Past is an important contribution not only to our knowledge of nineteenth-century Russian revolutionary politics but also to our understanding of the psychology and actions of terrorism today. Gershuni's memoir illuminates the abuses of Tsarist Russia and the attraction of political violence for well-educated and middle class youths. From My Recent Past also contains an excellent introduction to provide a proper historical perspective of the book and an afterword to show its contemporary relevance. Katya Vladimirov and John Moran have recovered a lost treasure of a forgotten Russian revolutionary whose memoir still possesses relevance for us in our age of terrorism and political violence. -- Lee Trepanier, Saginaw Valley State University
Grigory Gershuni's newly translated autobiography is a welcome addition to the literature on the Russian revolutionary movement, especially as fleshed out byKatya Vladimirov's introductory essayand broadly contextualized byJack Moran's concluding chapter. This new volume deserves to be widely read by historians of both Russia and terrorism. -- Randall Law, Birmingham-Southern University

Author Bio

Katya Vladimirov is professor of history at Kennesaw State University. John P. Moran is professor of political science and international affairs at Kennesaw State University.