
The Russian Revolution
Victor Sebestyen(Author)
Apollo (Publisher)
Published on 8. June 2023
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-80024-471-9 (ISBN)
Description
An illustrated account of one of the most pivotal events in modern history - the Russian revolution of 1917.
In the early years of the twentieth century, Imperial Russia was an ethnically diverse empire, stretching from Ukraine and Belarus in the west to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East. At the head of this profoundly dysfunctional polity was Tsar Nicholas II, whose Romanov successors had ruled Russia since the start of the seventeenth century with a lethal mixture of domestic cruelty, expansionist energy and reactionary incompetence - interspersed with occasional reformist spasms.
By early 1917, Russia was unreformable, and the tsar's authority irreparably damaged. In March of that year, Nicholas II abdicated and the tsarist system was overthrown. The provisional government installed in its stead to organise democratic elections lasted just eight chaotic months before being ousted by Lenin's Bolsheviks in the October Revolution.
Writing with crisp immediacy, Sebestyen narrates an unprecedented era of political and social convulsion. The Russian Revolution changed the course of history, and, more than a century later, their backwash continues to be deeply felt across the world.
In the early years of the twentieth century, Imperial Russia was an ethnically diverse empire, stretching from Ukraine and Belarus in the west to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East. At the head of this profoundly dysfunctional polity was Tsar Nicholas II, whose Romanov successors had ruled Russia since the start of the seventeenth century with a lethal mixture of domestic cruelty, expansionist energy and reactionary incompetence - interspersed with occasional reformist spasms.
By early 1917, Russia was unreformable, and the tsar's authority irreparably damaged. In March of that year, Nicholas II abdicated and the tsarist system was overthrown. The provisional government installed in its stead to organise democratic elections lasted just eight chaotic months before being ousted by Lenin's Bolsheviks in the October Revolution.
Writing with crisp immediacy, Sebestyen narrates an unprecedented era of political and social convulsion. The Russian Revolution changed the course of history, and, more than a century later, their backwash continues to be deeply felt across the world.
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR VICTOR SEBESTYEN:'Can first-rate history read like a thriller? With Lenin the Dictator the journalist Victor Sebestyen has pulled off this rarest of feats' New York Times.
'Sebestyen's attention to historical detail is flawless' Observer.
'Richly readable... Enthralling but appalling' Mail on Sunday.
'A magisterial but totally gripping and fresh account of the noble, violent, and doomed Hungarian revolution' Simon Sebag Montefiore.
'This is an exceptionally involving and horrifying book... Heaven knows [Sebestyen] can tell a story' * Spectator *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
40 integrated col
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 169 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
527 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80024-471-9 (9781800244719)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Victor Sebestyen was born in Budapest and was a child when his family left Hungary as refugees. As a journalist, he has worked for numerous publications, including The Times, New York Times, London Evening Standard, and Daily Mail. He reported widely from Eastern Europe when Communism collapsed and t?he Berlin Wall came down in 1989, as well as covering t?he wars in former Yugoslavia and t?he breakup of t?he Soviet Union. Victor's books include Twelve Days and Revolution 1989. He is based in London.