Revolution! Writings from Russia, 1917

British author, editor, and publisher Ayrton (No Pasarán! Writings from the Spanish Civil War) collects an assortment of key writings produced in Russia in the immediate context of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Incorporating fiction, journalism, memoirs, and reflections, the book has three types of sources. First come foreign writers and intellectuals who were present during or directly after the revolution, including Langston Hughes, John Reed, and H.G. Wells. Their common perspective was favorable to the revolution and the tone of their works was well-wishing. The second category incorporates Russian writers who remained in the new U.S.S.R., such as Isaac Babel and proto-feminist revolutionary Alexandra Kollontai. Finally, there are the Russian émigrés who, disillusioned by the revolution's outcome, left before 1925—when it was still possible—and sank into relative obscurity. Ayrton's selections reflect a discerning perspective on the topic. His commentaries are informed by his own sympathy with the revolution and its ideals but never lapse into blind boosterism. The anthology successfully presents the initial hopes and expectations that "a new world and new ways of living were possible" and the eventual disillusion, despair, and denial when dreams were dashed under waves of Stalinist opportunism, horror, and betrayal. Ayrton nevertheless believes that these writings affirm "that fundamental change for the better remains possible." (Oct.)