A review by judyward
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed

4.0

This book was published in 1919 by John Reed, an American journalist who was in Russia during the October Revolution in 1917. The first revolution, in February, resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the establishment of the Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. Reed is able to chronicle both the conditions in Russia and the mood of its people that ultimately led to the fall of the Provisional Government, the assault on the Winter Palace where the counter-revolutionary Whites were defeated by the Bolsheviks, and the eventual triumph of V.I. Lenin. Reed combines his personal observations, the speeches and remarks of the leaders of the various political factions in Russia during this pivotal period, and the comments and reactions of ordinary Russian men and women who were caught up in and then overwhelmed by the great flood of events surrounding them.