The Russian Revolution--From Tsarism to Bolshevism

To understand the Russian Revolution, the back cover of this book rightly claims, "is to understand a key building block of modern history and the contemporary world." In 14 lectures, Professor Smele seeks to explain the whys and wherefores, as well as the people and events that turned the huge Russian empire into the formidable Soviet empire in the opening decades of the twentieth century. He leads with the social conditions under czarist rule that made the revolution possible and ends with the civil conflicts of 1917-1921, which solidified the power of the Bolsheviks. As a writer, the professor is comprehensive and comprehensible. However, his delivery--with its mouth noises and gaping pauses--is distracting. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine