A review by alexgsmith
Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed

I’m not quite sure why I keep reading about the Russian Revolution, but I think it has something to do with it representing the possibility of change. It’s proof that things that seem fixed, things to which we may otherwise imagine no alternative, can be completely changed. I think that’s incredibly empowering, and being reminded of such possibility is important in many ways.

This is a first-hand account of the October Revolution. While there is some background and explanation of key political parties and organisations, I wouldn’t recommend this as a historical introduction. That’s not really the point here though; this is about capturing the energy in the room as Soviet factions debate, the atmosphere on the streets as counter-revolution approaches Petrograd, the sense that every day was new, that it could be revolutionary; I think it succeeds in that respect.

The only reason for Bolshevik success lay in their accomplishing the vast and simple desires of the most profound strata of the people, calling them to the work of tearing down and destroying the old, and afterwards, in the smoke of falling ruins, cooperating with them to erect the framework of the new…