Blood on the Snow: The Russian Revolution 1914-1924

Blood on the Snow is a book by Robert Service that explores the Russian Revolution, focusing on the question of how to reconcile the two narratives that underpin the events of 1917. It spans the period from the outbreak of the First World War to Lenin's death in 1924 and reveals that key seeds of the revolution were sown by the Tsar's decision to join the war against Germany in 1914. Service enriches his narrative by drawing on little-known diaries of 'ordinary people' such as Alexander Zamaraev, Alexei Shtukaturov, and Nikita Okunev.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2024
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

A remarkable book on a terrifying subject by the preeminent historian of Russia today, Michael Burleigh, author of The Third Reich, Blood on the Snow by Robert Service delves into the Russian Revolution, a topic that has been the cornerstone of his extensive and illustrious career. For Service, the crucial unresolved issue is how to reconcile the two essential narratives that underpin the extraordinary yet turbulent events of 1917. One assigns sole responsibility to Tsar Nicholas II and Alexander Kerensky's provisional government, which deposed him. The other perspective is that of the workers and peasants who desired democratic socialism, not the Bolshevik dictatorship imposed by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and his successors. Service's vivid and revisionist account spans the period from the outbreak of the First World War to Lenin's death in 1924. In it, he uncovers that the Tsar's decision to join the war against Germany in 1914 sowed the seeds of the revolution. He vividly illustrates how those events unfolded, ultimately resulting in the establishment of the totalitarian Soviet regime, which would endure for the next seven decades. Nicholas II, Kerensky, and Lenin are prominent, but Service enriches his narrative by drawing on little-known diaries of individuals such as the Vologda peasant Alexander Zamaraev, the NCO Alexei Shtukaturov, and the Moscow accounts clerk Nikita Okunev. Through the testimony of these 'ordinary people,' Service traces the tortuous path that Russia traversed through war, revolution, and civil war. This authoritative, detailed account demonstrates how Lenin gained control of Russia and inflicted untold suffering. – The Times

Weight: 362g
Dimension: 196 x 131 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529065855