Petrograd in early 1917 was a city resting nervously on the edge of cataclysm. Two and a half years of war, mounting food shortages, barracks filled with untrained and disaffected young soldiers fearful of being sent to the front lines, factory districts packed with workers desperate enough to see any change in their condition asan improvement, and a winter severe even by Russian standards all combined to make a rebellion against the incompetent tsarist government inevitable. When the revolt finally began in late February (early March according to the Western calendar) it took only a few days to topple Tsar Nicholas II. Then a months long period began in which a new Provisional Government set up by the Russian legislature or Duma struggled to establish liberal democracy, opposed nearly every step of the way by more radical elements intent on creating a socialist state. In late October (or early November) the Bolsheviks, who were the most radical of the radicals, were able to seize power in another brief but bloody conflict. Histories of the Russian Revolutions of 1917 have propagated freely over the last century, but most describe what happened from the points of view of the "winning" or "losing" factions. Helen Rappaport's great achievement in Caught in the Revolution is to relate what happened in Petrograd in 1917 using the eyewitness testimony of foreigners who found themselves in the unenviable position of watching history take a giant turn.
As the capital of the Russian Empire Petrograd had always been a cosmopolitan city where wealthy foreigners could lead lives of great ease and luxury. When World War I broke out in 1914 life became a bit more constrained but still quite comfortable for most foreigners, chiefly British and American diplomats, journalists, bankers, and other businessmen who had come to Russia to take advantage of its extraordinary and largely untapped natural resources. Many brought their families with them and had lived contentedly for years. When chaos erupted they had to scramble for their lives, trapped inside a country that was suddenly at war with itself. Fortunately, most of these people survived the Revolution and returned to the West, where many wrote memoirs and popular press articles that vividly described what they had seen. I especially enjoyed reading about the British Ambassador, Sir George Buchanan, his wife Lady Georgina, and his daughter Meriel. Redoubtable to the end, they held themselves with plenty of British phlegm and dignity. The US Ambassador, David Francis, also made for entertaining reading. A Missouri politician with no diplomatic experience, he arrived in Petrograd just as the Revolution was unfolding. His memories, as well as those of his African-American
servant Phil Jordan,are especially vivid. Then there were the journalists, including some intrepid women, who were landed with the news stories of their lives. Then there were the American and British socialists who had come to Russia to witness what they thought would be the beginnings of a bright new future, like John Reed and his wife Louise Bryant, who became very much a part of the Revolution they were out to cover.
Caught in the Revolution is meticulously researched, with material from archives in Britain and the United States and a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including some contemporary magazine and newspaper articles that must have been difficult to track down. Rappaport's work is scholarly and well documented, but she is an excellent writer who has a good eye for interesting anecdotes. I chuckle to think of Sir George Buchanan refusing to let a street battle interfere with his customary evening walk, so impressing the two battling sides that they called a ceasefire and waited respectfully while he strolled past. This is a book which will appeal to serious Russian history students as well as general readers looking for superlative real life drama.
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Top reviews from other countries
John Hopper
brilliant weaving together of eyewitness accounts
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2017