October

The Story of the Russian Revolution

By: China Mieville

Narrated by: John Banks

The renowned fantasy and science fiction writer China Mieville has long been inspired by the ideals of the Russian Revolution, and here, on the centenary of the revolution, he provides his own distinctive take on its history.

In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked by not one but two revolutions?

This is the story of the extraordinary months between those upheavals, in February and October, of the forces and individuals who made 1917 so epochal a year, of their intrigues, negotiations, conflicts and catastrophes. From familiar names like Lenin and Trotsky to their opponents Kornilov and Kerensky; from the byzantine squabbles of urban activists to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire; from the revolutionary railroad Sublime to the ciphers and static of coup by telegram; from grand sweep to forgotten detail.

Historians have debated the revolution for 100 years, its portents and possibilities: the mass of literature can be daunting. But here is a book for those new to the events, told not only in their historical import but in all their passion and drama and strangeness. Because as well as a political event of profound and ongoing consequence, Mieville reveals the Russian Revolution as a breathtaking story.

©2017 China Mieville (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Even when he is orbiting somewhere in a galaxy too far away for normal human comprehension...Mieville is dazzling." ( The New York Times)

Revolution is not a one day affair

China Mieville, a master science fiction writer has woven tigether the critical months of the 1917 Russian revolution into a narrative that brings the revolution and the many players to life, and the difficult struggle to find the path to change the old order The book has excited my curiosity about that year and the many years of strugglre afterwards

Good Stuff off of Mr. Mieville's usual path.

If you bought this because you are a fan of his other work and don't know much background on the topic, it's a bit tough to get into. I went and watched an hour's worth of YouTube histories about the revolution and was able to appreciate what he was going for much better. That being said, I enjoyed it very much.

great if you skip the epilogue

loved this up until the epilogue, where it suddenly devolved into fictional red scare propaganda. China, why do you believe the lies about Stalin and the USSR? don't tell me you're a trot or an ultra, or even worse an anarchist....

what's with western leftists dismissing any Actually Existing Socialist states, do you like losing?

Exceptional!

I highly recommend this to anyone looking to understand the eventful year of 1917 in revolutionary Russia.

Toward a new October

In China Mieville's gifted hands he writes a story of October 1917 that places the reader within the story, and forces the reader to reconcile with the objective conditions of revolutionary Russia. Ultimately, the bankruptcy of Russian liberalism, the fragility of dual power, and the democratic vision and organization of the Bolsheviks led the masses towards the October Revolution. Mieville helps any revolutionary see how imperative it is to study the Bolsheviks, and how a revolutionary can learn from their successes and failures.