RED OCTOBER: The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.VG+/VG.No owner inscrptn; but previous owner/seller pencilled 1968,illus+History to ffe map and price-clipped dw/dj.Red upper wrap with superimposed red star design with b/w letters,and slightly grubbed rear white wrap.Light shelf- wear to edges with light creasing to top edges and light chipping to head of spine/backstrip;bottom edges have a closed tear to front edge and a small closed tear to foot of spine/backstrip - no loss. Top edge lightly dust-soiled,fore-edge lightly marked.Contents tight and clean.Black paper-covered bds with stamped red ink letters to spine/backstrip and map eps.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xivpp+ 269pp includes preface,2pp list of illus,32pp b/w photographs, chronology of events,sources and an index. The events of October 1917 form one of the decisive sequences in world history.Through his analysis of the record and writings of those fateful few weeks,Professor Daniels has found new relationships among the well-known data,and he has produced fresh viewpoints on the questions surrounding Lenin's control over Party activities,the Bolshevik cult of force,and the role of chance in precipitating the Revolution.For an event so near to us in time (then 1968),the accepted record of the October Revolution contains some remarkable gaps,about who made important decisions and when - or if they were made at all. Until now the gaps have been filled,accurately or not,by the hindsight of either apologists for the Revolution or critics of it; Professor Daniels cuts through the after-the-fact representations and he has narrated the Revolution as nearly as possible as it actually happened.The story of Petrograd in 1917 compounds hope and disillusionment,idealism and betrayal,social programmes and general panic.News of Russian defeats at the Front and rumours of imminent German occupation of Petrograd almost daily changed a volatile situation and so affected the varying fortunes of Party recruitment among workers and soldiers.Soviet tradition holds that the Revolution followed an inexorable Marxian plan (though aided by Lenin's genius) as does,with different emphasis, the anti-Communist school of thought;,but in Professor Daniel's view,the Revolution succeeded only "against incredible odds in defiance of any rational calculation."Far from unfolding a settled plot,the Party during most of October failed to heed even Lenin's single-minded insistence on a coup.The Bolshevik leaders preferred to wait for the Congress of Soviets to meet before acting, and they feared Rightist retaliation for any violence.It was only on October 24th,when Kerensky attacked the Bolshevik newspaper offices and their Military Revolutionary Committee,that the Bolsheviks and other groups of the Left joined in self-defence against what they thought was the dreaded reactionary putsch. Contrary to expectations,the forces of the Provisional Government gave way almost without resistance,and within two days the Bolsheviks held one-party control in Petrograd and were preparing to claim power throughout the country.Lenin's insistence on taking power by force had been realised,if only because Kerensky had upset by his attack the delicate balance between opposing interests; and the pattern of developments in Russia was set for years to come.In Professor Daniels' retelling,the events of October 1917 are as dramatic as they are decisive.His narrative provides surprising and controversial new insights into a period crucial to the development of the twentieth century world. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!