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The Russian Revolution
- A New History
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
From an award-winning scholar comes this definitive, single-volume history that illuminates the tensions and transformations of the Russian Revolution.
In The Russian Revolution, acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin traces the events which ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced Communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation.
Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover of the Russian Imperial Army, promoting mutinies and mass desertions of men in order to fulfill Lenin's program of turning the "imperialist war" into civil war. By the time the Bolsheviks had snuffed out the last resistance five years later, over 20 million people had died, and the Russian economy had collapsed so completely that Communism had to be temporarily abandoned. Still, Bolshevik rule was secure, owing to the new regime's monopoly on force, enabled by illicit arms deals signed with capitalist neighbors such as Germany and Sweden who sought to benefit-politically and economically-from the revolutionary chaos in Russia.
Drawing on scores of previously untapped files from Russian archives and a range of other repositories in Europe, Turkey, and the United States, McMeekin delivers exciting, groundbreaking research about this turbulent era. The first comprehensive history of these momentous events in two decades, The Russian Revolution combines cutting-edge scholarship and a fast-paced narrative to shed new light on one of the most significant turning points of the 20th century.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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As an international war correspondent and radio commentator, William L. Shirer didn't just research the fall of France. He was there. In just six weeks, he watched the Third Reich topple one of the world's oldest military powers - and institute a rule of terror and paranoia. Based on in-person conversation with the leaders, diplomats, generals, and ordinary citizens who both shaped the events of this time and lived through them on a daily basis, Shirer shapes a compelling account of historical events - without losing sight of the personal experience.
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So much information
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Overthrow
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- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
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"Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals.
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Looking at the dark side
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- Narrated by: Robert Meldrum
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Few years can justly be said to have transformed the earth: 1914 did. In July that year, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain and France were poised to plunge the world into a war that would kill or wound 37 million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient political systems and set the course for the bloodiest century in human history.
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How the war started
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By: Paul Ham
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In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.
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Superb Book About the Arab World
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In The Vanquished, a highly original and gripping work of history, Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. In large part it was not the fighting on the Western Front that proved so ruinous to Europe's future but the devastating aftermath, as countries on both sides of the original conflict were savaged by revolutions, pogroms, mass expulsions, and further major military clashes.
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little-known period following WWI is illuminated
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Forgotten Ally
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For decades, a major piece of World War II history has gone virtually unwritten. The war began in China two full years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.
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Bland
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Fascinating look at much neglected peiod
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1848
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In 1848, a violent storm of revolutions ripped through Europe. The torrent all but swept away the conservative order that had kept peace on the continent since Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815 - but which in many countries had also suppressed dreams of national freedom. Political events so dramatic had not been seen in Europe since the French Revolution, and they would not be witnessed again until 1989, with the revolutions in Eastern and Central Europe.
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1848 by Mike Rapport
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Crimea
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The terrible conflict that dominated the mid-19th century, the Crimean War, killed at least 800,000 men and pitted Russia against a formidable coalition of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It was a war for territory, provoked by fear that if the Ottoman Empire were to collapse then Russia could control a huge swathe of land from the Balkans to the Persian Gulf. But it was also a war of religion, driven by a fervent, populist and ever more ferocious belief by the Tsar and his ministers that it was Russia's task to rule all Orthodox Christians and control the Holy Land.
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Outstanding History of the Crimean War
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What If? Part 1
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What if Hitler had won the war, if Japan had another sneak attack, or if the cold war turned hot? What If? provides a fascinating new perspective on history's most pivotal events. Featuring today's foremost historians speculating on what could have happened, we discover where we might be if history had not unfolded the way it did.
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For history buffs
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A People's History of the Russian Revolution
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The Russian Revolution may be the most misunderstood and misrepresented event in modern history, its history told in a mix of legends and anecdotes. In A People's History of the Russian Revolution, Neil Faulkner sets out to debunk the myths and pry fact from fiction, putting at the heart of the story the Russian people who are the true heroes of this tumultuous tale.
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Beware reviewers who rely on provocative labels...
- By Buretto on 10-06-21
By: Neil Faulkner
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Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
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What listeners say about The Russian Revolution
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jared Cohn
- 08-24-17
Great wealth of info.
Excellent wealth of information. A clear anti communist bias from the writer. Nonetheless covers all major details of transition from monarchy to communism thoroughly.
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- Global Octopus
- 01-08-23
A skeptical account of the Russian Revolution
This book is a lively account of the Russian revolution. Much of it is from the point of you diplomacy and high policy. The sociological discussion and discussion of the organization of the political parties is not the emphasis here; it is more “high politics”, but well done and thorough. Neither Stalinists no Trotskyist will like this account, but it is equally distant from the outlook of cold warriors. The author is skeptical about the political machinations of all sides, and for this, I commend him.
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- Chris D. Stevenson
- 11-04-19
Enlightening
With so much of the Russian Revolution/history still shrouded in mythos - largely due to questionable information, this book definitely helped shed some light on it.
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- Luke
- 12-15-23
Very informative.
This book dispelled a lot of presumptions I had about the fall of the Czar and the rise of Soviet Communism. It’s a really sad story but important to be knowledgeable of.
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- M
- 03-18-24
Incredible Book
An unbiased account of one of the most controversial and important events of the last century.
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- DD
- 05-02-21
History and all its parts
Some parts more interesting to me than others but the theme is great and important for understanding Western history as well as Russian and Slovak.
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- Carl A. Gallozzi
- 12-19-19
Russian Revolution informative perspectve
Full Disclosure:
I recently read a book entitled "The Secrets We Kept" - about a group of women in the 1950's CIA - who started out as admins and then 'graduated' to Courier. The background construct was the CIA's backing of a plot to public "Dr. Zhivago" within the Soviet Union - to show the impacts of the Russian Revolution.
This led me to listen to Dr. Zhivago itself - a classic - the Russian "Gone With The Wind"....
I'm still finishing up Dr. Z - I realized that I didn't have much context or perspective about the Russian Revolution itself - Reds, Whites, Korensky, the Cheka and etc.
So that leads me to Sean McMeekin's "The Russian Revolution"....
Review:
Learned a good deal of history - but also some points are extremely relevant in today's US Society.
Lenin - when he returned to Petrograd - had $ from the Germans - one of the first things he did was use this German $ to buy a printing press - and to publish his own newspaper/propoganda - which influenced the workers and local Army cadre.
Another learning - the Bolsheviks were originally a small (revolutionary) party - yet with a small number of totally committed ruthless people (mostly men) - they 'won' the war against the competition. I've recently read books about the Wiemar Republic and how in the context of Germany's Economic and Political crisis - eventually Hitler came to power. Something to think about - not exactly parallels - but something to be learned there.
Very listenable - very detailed - provides a great historical perspective.
Carl Gallozzi
cgallozzi@comcast.net
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- Anonymous User
- 04-18-22
overall very nice
it's a good book, the amount of information for someone new to the topic is sometimes somewhat overwhelming but overall very informative the performance is nice as well.
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- Anonymous User
- 11-03-17
Audio version challenging with Russian names
I think I might have been better off reading this in print version. The story is compelling and very informative, but I struggled somewhat with keeping track of all the Russian characters names in the audio version.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Timothy Wilder
- 03-28-22
must read
This book should be read by all would be Champaign Socialists who think that communism and socialism could work.
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