Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime

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Pipes describes the Civil War, the attempts to export the revolution abroad, and the solidification of the Communist state in the early 1920s. He argues that the Russian Revolution was an intellectual, rather than a class uprising; that it was steeped in terror from its very outset; and that it was not a revolution at all, but a coup d'etat. He goes on to examine the establishment in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1920 of a new type of regime: the world's first modern, industrial, totalitarian state.

"Closing out his masterpiece trilogy on the Russian revolution... Pipes in this volume examines the character of the totalitarian state Lenin created.... With other matters, and with patient, cumulatively devastating persuasion, Pipes conclusively proves Lenin's personal responsibility (an angels-on-pinheads distinction that has pitted apologists against critics of Bolshevism) for all that followed.... Well-written, and starkly laconic where need be (in descriptions of executions and the like), this challenging work culminates a great scholar's lifetime of study. No library should be without it."
--Booklist

"This book--with the light it casts not only on the major events of the period but also on neglected subjects like culture and religion (the Central Archive shows that Lenin asked for daily reports concerning the number of priests shot)--will give rise to controversy, but it is a monumental achievement, unlikely to be surpassed for many years to come."
--Kirkus Review  
Richard Pipes was for many years a professor of history at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous books and essays on Russia, past and present, including Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime. In 1981–82 he served as President Reagan's National Security Council adviser on Soviet and East European affairs, and he has twice received a Guggenheim fellowship. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Marlborough, New Hampshire. View titles by Richard Pipes
"Monumental ... lucidly written, unsurpassed in detail and comprehensiveness." —The Wall Street Journal on The Russian Revolution

"Profound and rigorous.... Offers a penetrating analysis of the making of the Soviet system . . no review could do full justice to this great work.... [It is] a passionate book whose outstanding scholarship is rooted in universal values like truth, honor, responsibility and the sacredness of human life." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"Timely.... The work is enriched in intriguing ways by the author's access to the once-secret archives of the Soviet Union." —Los Angeles Times

"Remarkable.... A heavy indictment of Lenin and his colleagues which Pipes presents with deadly effect. . . . [His] portrait of Lenin shows that ... his cruelty was more rational than Stalin's but equally remorseless.Pipes has performed a notable service in making all these things plain." —Sunday Times (London)

"Richard Pipes is one of the most perceptive observers of the Russian scene." —Christian Science Monitor

"Destined to replace ... the standard source on the subject." —New Leader

"Inspired.... Few other historians have so powerfully chronicled the ferocity of Bolshevik sentiment and Bolshevik practice." —Sunday Telegraph

"A brilliant scholar The chapter on cultural policies ... is the best short survey of its kind A monumental political history." —Guardian

"Magnificent. ... It is [the] contemporary background which makes Pipes's book so compelling.... We owe a debt of gratitude to Richard Pipes forat long last giving us a history of the Russian revolution 'as it actually was.' " —Daily Mail

"A tremendously distinguished work of revisionist history .... Pipes makes even the most complex events comprehensible.... Original and often startling.... It is rare that a book is both completely revisionist and liable to become the standard text on its subject. This is one." —Daily Telegraph

About

Pipes describes the Civil War, the attempts to export the revolution abroad, and the solidification of the Communist state in the early 1920s. He argues that the Russian Revolution was an intellectual, rather than a class uprising; that it was steeped in terror from its very outset; and that it was not a revolution at all, but a coup d'etat. He goes on to examine the establishment in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1920 of a new type of regime: the world's first modern, industrial, totalitarian state.

"Closing out his masterpiece trilogy on the Russian revolution... Pipes in this volume examines the character of the totalitarian state Lenin created.... With other matters, and with patient, cumulatively devastating persuasion, Pipes conclusively proves Lenin's personal responsibility (an angels-on-pinheads distinction that has pitted apologists against critics of Bolshevism) for all that followed.... Well-written, and starkly laconic where need be (in descriptions of executions and the like), this challenging work culminates a great scholar's lifetime of study. No library should be without it."
--Booklist

"This book--with the light it casts not only on the major events of the period but also on neglected subjects like culture and religion (the Central Archive shows that Lenin asked for daily reports concerning the number of priests shot)--will give rise to controversy, but it is a monumental achievement, unlikely to be surpassed for many years to come."
--Kirkus Review  

Author

Richard Pipes was for many years a professor of history at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous books and essays on Russia, past and present, including Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime. In 1981–82 he served as President Reagan's National Security Council adviser on Soviet and East European affairs, and he has twice received a Guggenheim fellowship. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Marlborough, New Hampshire. View titles by Richard Pipes

Praise

"Monumental ... lucidly written, unsurpassed in detail and comprehensiveness." —The Wall Street Journal on The Russian Revolution

"Profound and rigorous.... Offers a penetrating analysis of the making of the Soviet system . . no review could do full justice to this great work.... [It is] a passionate book whose outstanding scholarship is rooted in universal values like truth, honor, responsibility and the sacredness of human life." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"Timely.... The work is enriched in intriguing ways by the author's access to the once-secret archives of the Soviet Union." —Los Angeles Times

"Remarkable.... A heavy indictment of Lenin and his colleagues which Pipes presents with deadly effect. . . . [His] portrait of Lenin shows that ... his cruelty was more rational than Stalin's but equally remorseless.Pipes has performed a notable service in making all these things plain." —Sunday Times (London)

"Richard Pipes is one of the most perceptive observers of the Russian scene." —Christian Science Monitor

"Destined to replace ... the standard source on the subject." —New Leader

"Inspired.... Few other historians have so powerfully chronicled the ferocity of Bolshevik sentiment and Bolshevik practice." —Sunday Telegraph

"A brilliant scholar The chapter on cultural policies ... is the best short survey of its kind A monumental political history." —Guardian

"Magnificent. ... It is [the] contemporary background which makes Pipes's book so compelling.... We owe a debt of gratitude to Richard Pipes forat long last giving us a history of the Russian revolution 'as it actually was.' " —Daily Mail

"A tremendously distinguished work of revisionist history .... Pipes makes even the most complex events comprehensible.... Original and often startling.... It is rare that a book is both completely revisionist and liable to become the standard text on its subject. This is one." —Daily Telegraph

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