Revolutionary Russia, 1891—1991: A History

Figes (A People’s Tragedy) covers familiar terrain in his new account of Russia and its revolution with a sharp and confident analysis. He presents a centurylong revolution stretching from 1891 to 1991, and divides it into three phases: the rise of the Bolsheviks, Stalin’s rule, and the repercussions of Khruschev’s denouncement of Stalin. Figes works to dispel the mythology that still surrounds Lenin, Stalin, and the Revolution, plenty of which still survives in the West even after the Cold War. He reminds us that Lenin “was a stranger to Russia,” having spent most of the preceding 17 years outside the country, and that the Bolshevik storming of the Winter Palace was more like a house arrest, a coup d’état that few observers, including some Bolsheviks, thought could last. Analyzing Stalin’s leadership, Figes notes that even though intelligence reports suggested the Germans were massing for an attack in 1941, Stalin ignored the signs and, due to fears inspired by his Great Terror, his military commanders refused to contradict him. Figes strips away the propaganda and nostalgia to emphasize the Revolution’s destructive powers, a perspective that is all the more relevant as Vladimir Putin seeks to capitalize on many Russians’ hunger for the so-called glory days of the Soviet Union. (Apr.)