Russian Revolution - Why it happened and its consequences? Book recomm

[potty5]

Dear forum members, a friend of mine is studying History at college and is currently doing "The Russian Revolution." Can anybody recommend a book on the subject please, which basically answers the questions "why did it start" and the consequences it had on the war. Thanks very much, Mark.

[seaJane]

Hi Mark

I don't know the best text book, but for a well-researched fictional view of the era your friend could do worse than buy second-hand copies of "Three Lives for the Czar" and "My Kingdom for a Grave" by Stephanie Plowman.

Also worth a look would be Helen Rappaport's recent non-fiction "Conspirator: Lenin in exile" and "Ekaterinburg: the last days of the Romanovs" for some reading around the subject.

sJ

[James A Pratt III]

"The Russian Revolution R Pipes is a good book

Alan Morehead also has a book on the subject

Helen Rappaport is working on a book I believe Petrograd 1917 due out in 2017

There are all sorts of books on the Russian Revolution and Russia during the WW I period, some are online at archive.org and elsewhere.

[mmckay395]

It all depends how much detail you need. The standard text I think would be Orland Figes's A People's Tragedy. But coming in at nearly 1,000 pages it may prove a bit dense.

Other than that you could a lot worse than to get one by Robert Service, he's the leading expert on Russian twentieth century history. He should have one on the revolution.

[phil andrade]

Look at Churchill's World Crisis, and just browse through what he has to say about Russia in the pertinent chapters.

You will realise in a few seconds that the account is prodigiously biased ; but don't be deterred.....the narrative is very engaging and the style so compelling that you will be informed and entertained.

It's a good way of appreciating how the events impinged at the time.

Just trying to read one big book about it might prove too much

A brief skim through Churchill's accounts will be a very good jumping off point.

Phil (PJA )

[Norrette]

This one is pitched at A Level students, but if you need to swat up quickly I think it's very useful (packed with statistics etc.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reaction-Revolution-Russia-1894-1924-History/dp/0340885890/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Norrette