Caught in the Revolution

feel & hear the revolution as it happened

‘A gripping, vivid, deeply researched chronicle of the Russian Revolution told through the eyes of a surprising, flamboyant cast of foreigners in Petrograd, superbly narrated by Helen Rappaport.’

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Caught in the Revolution

Between the first revolution in February 1917 and Lenin’s Bolshevik coup in October, Petrograd (the former St Petersburg) was in turmoil. Foreign visitors who filled hotels, bars and embassies were acutely aware of the chaos breaking out on their doorsteps. Among them were journalists, diplomats, businessmen, governesses and volunteer nurses. Many kept diaries and wrote letters home: from an English nurse who had already survived the sinking of the Titanic; to the black valet of the US Ambassador, far from his native Deep South; to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst, who had come to Petrograd to inspect the indomitable Women’s Death Battalion led by Maria Bochkareava.

Drawing upon a rich trove of material and through eye-witness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold, Helen Rappaport takes us right up to the action – to see, feel and hear the Revolution as it happened.

Helen describes her approach to researching the tumultuous events of the Russian Revolution in Petrograd in 1917.  Filmed at the Chalke Valley History Festival.
Helen’s speaks to students about the Russian Revolution – part of the Hay Festival’s Hay Levels series

Reviews

‘[The] centenary will prompt a raft of books on the Russian Revolution. They will be hard pushed to better this highly original, exhaustively researched and superbly constructed account.’

Saul David, Daily Telegraph

 

“Splendid…endlessly fascinating.”

The New York Times Book Review

 

“One of the great strengths of this book is the way in which the unheralded and the celebrated mingle in its pages…A mosaic of truth which no fictional one could outdo.”

The Washington Times

 

“A multifaceted account of the 1917 Russian Revolution…gripping and thoroughly researched…[Rappaport brings] the streets and spirit of the early 20th-century Petrograd to life on the page.”

Harper’s Bazaar

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Most people know the now legendary tale of how Lenin returned to Russia after many years in exile on a sealed train across wartime Germany, arriving at Petrograd’s Finland Station on 16 April 1917. But few are aware of the life he led in Europe between 1900 and his dramatic return. During those years he came to London on five separate occasions…

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John Reed was the archetypal rebellious romantic. He was made for revolution and hungry for a cause and the Russian Revolution found its most passionate American advocate in him

The Women in Lenin’s Life

The Women in Lenin’s Life

Lenin had no qualms whatsoever in ruthlessly exploiting the loyalty of the women who formed his essential back up team. He wore them all ragged in the cause of his own political ends.

You can find more videos, podcasts and other media on the topic of the Romanovs, Russia & Revolution on Helen’s main page for this area of expertise HERE

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