Stalin in October: The Man Who Missed the Revolution

by Robert M. Slusser

Overview

Originally published in 1987. In March 1917 young Joseph Stalin, already a high-ranking Bolshevik, returned from Siberian exile in search of greatness and power. But his activities during the months leading up to the October Revolution were full of blunders and misjudgments—failures that in later years Stalin obliterated from the historical record. Stalin in October reassembles the history of 1917 and explains why, on the eve of the revolutionaries' seizure of power, Stalin seemingly dropped out of the picture. "He would always be dogged," Slusser writes, "by a nagging sense of having somehow missed the revolution." The lingering shame was crucial to Stalin's development into a Soviet dictator.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421432281
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2019
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert M. Slusser was a professor of Russian and Soviet history at Michigan State University. He also taught at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University. He wrote a number of books on Russian history, including The Berlin Crisis of 1961: Soviet-American Relations and the Struggle for Power in the Kremlin, June-November 1961.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Note to the Reader
Chapter 1. March
Chapter 2. April
Chapter 3. May-June
Chapter 4. July
The July Days and Their Aftermath
The "Pencil Story" : Stalin's Daydream
Mid-July: Stalin Emergent
The Sixth Party Congress
Chapter 5. August
Chapter 6 September-October
Chapter 7. Coda
Notes
Bibliography and List of Short Titles
Index

Editorial Reviews

According to Slusser, the eight months from the tsar's fall to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 were for Stalin ``to constitute such a mixed record of partial achievements and outright failure . . . that he could never afterwards contemplate it without acute discomfort.'' Slusser then analyzes contemporary documents and scholarly research to reveal Stalin's contributions in committee work and writings, his loyalty to Lenin, his caution, etc. Stalin's absence from the scene of revolution is attributed to his inability to act as a team player combined with the nature of the Bolshevik power structure and leadership. A convincing scholarly study for major and specialized collections. Rena Fowler, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette

Library Journal