ABSTRACT
The Russian revolution was a defining event, maybe the defining event, of
the twentieth century. It was a turning point in the history of European and
Asian empires and in the history of class struggles and movements of social
liberation. The overthrow of the old Russian regime, and the successful
establishment of a government that claimed to represent the working class,
towered over the century as a whole, influencing social movements across
the world. The retreat from, or failure of, the revolution’s aims – aspects of
which are discussed in this book – have, no less than its achievements, been a central problem for all those concerned with progressive social change.
