A memorable revolution needs a cartoonishly unsympathetic adversary, and the Communists had that in the autocracy that ruled Russia up to 1917. Today I cover some of the big institutions and figures whose mismanagement made Russia such fertile ground for revolution and the establishment of a new kind of state.
Bibliography for this episode:
- Hosking, Geoffrey Russia and the Russians: A History The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2001
- Figes, Orlando A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1917 Penguin Books 1998
- Smith, SA Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis 1890-1928 Oxford University Press 2018
- Fitzpatrick, Sheila The Russian Revolution, 4th Edition Oxford University Press 2017
- Kotkin, Stephen Stalin: Paradoxes of Power 1878-1928 Penguin Books 2015
Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com
