The Russian Revolution: A New History (Sean McMeekin)

An examination of lessons to be learned from the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, a time of ferment resembling ours, including the crucial lesson that great change is always a step function, not gradual. (This review was first published September 23, 2018.)

The written version of this review can be found here:

https://theworthyhouse.com/2018/09/23/book-review-russian-revolution-new-history-sean-mcmeekin/

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This and all Worthy House narrations are offered with accurate closed captions (not auto-generated).

"I am currently very focused on the ascent to power of Communism in Russia, not because it had anything to recommend it, but for the lessons it can teach us. Some of those lessons are ones the author of this book, Sean McMeekin, wants to impart—the dangers of left-wing ideology, primarily. Those are valuable lessons, certainly, but if we haven’t learned them after many decades of left-wing horror shows, we’re not going to learn them from this book. The lessons I am seeking, therefore, are more dynamic: how power can be grasped and used in fluid, chaotic situations, and by what kind of people. And those lessons are also on full display in this book, even if I did not learn any new ones." . . .