Finished reading “OCTOBER: The Story of the Russian Revolution” by China Miéville. This book was published just a few months ago in time for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.
There were two revolutions in Russia in 1917. One in February [old-style calendar] that overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and installed a provisional government. The other in October that kicked out the provisional government and established what was touted as a socialist government led by V. I. Lenin.
The October revolution was by far the more significant of the two, with far-reaching consequences internationally.
China Miéville starts his book in January 1917 and devotes succeeding chapters chronologically to the months that followed up to October.
In his Epilogue he writes: “... the months and years that follow [October 1917] will see the revolution embattled, assailed, isolated, ossified, broken. We know where this is going: purges, gulags, starvation, mass murder.”
But the author says the October 1917 revolution is a basic yardstick to measure social change globally.
“It is not for nostalgia’s sake that the strange story of the first socialist revolution in history deserves celebration. The standard of October declares that things changed once, and they might do so again,” he writes.