Dispatches from the Revolution: Russia 1916-1918

By Morgan Philips Price

Book Overview

A special correspondent for the Manchester Guardian , Morgan Philips Price was one of the few Englishmen in Russia during all phases of the Revolution. Although his Bolshevik sympathies accorded him an insider's perspective on much of the turmoil, his reports were often heavily revised or suppressed. In Dispatches from the Revolution, Tania Rose collects for the first time Price's correspondence from Russia--official and unofficial, published and unpublished--to reveal a side of Russian life and politics that fell largely unreported in the years before, during, and after the Revolution. This collection includes Price's pre-censored observations and comment, written for a range of British publications, as well as letters, postcards, and other writings. A foreword by Eric Hobsbawm and introductory material by Rose place Price's observations in biographical and historical context. Dispatches from the Revolution offers an account of the Russian Revolution from an eyewitness whose political commitment, fluency in Russian, and extensive travel far beyond the cities permitted him to write, uniquely, not only of metropolitan news and politics, but also of the experiences and issues signficant to ordinary peasants, workers, and soldiers in remote areas of the Russian empire. An important source to scholars of Russian history, this book will also appeal to general readers with interests in Russia, journalism, and world affairs.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822320592
• ISBN13: 9780822320593
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 195 Pages

Customer Reviews

Real time dispatches from a Western socialist in Russia

This is a very fun book. You are placed in the midst of the revolution. The observations are from someone very sympathetic to the Bolsheviks - whether this is a net plus or minus to the information is hard to know. Certainly it helped him gather information, but then what he reported was probably also affected not always in the best ways. As for the book itself, helpful introductions to each chapter supplement the dispatches, but the editor also cut a lot out. Some might have been unnecessary passages, but others seemed to be just for length and I would very much have preferred it be left in. I was often left wishing for the full piece and wondering how hard it would be to look up any published pieces in the library to get the full article. In any case, fun (and quick) read!

Bam! The world changes! New horizons open! And you are there!

Morgan Philips Price was a young reporter from England who wrote for the Manchester Guardian. He sympathized with the social movements in Russia and wanted to be in the midst of these historic changes. He reported on both the February and October revolutions and on the civil war that followed. He spoke Russian fluently and had some knowledge of the different peoples there. He speaks with peasants, workers and ...those who were high up as they fall from power. He captures the voices of Tartars and Georgians, farmers and soldiers and of farmers turned soldiers turned revolutionaries. His dispatches and letters show the transformations of the Russian people and of Price himself as all are swept up in this time of war and revolution. Central to this story is the rise of the Bolsheviks and their leader, Lenin, who Price first tends to disdain and dismiss, and soon respects and looks to as the only leader who can lead the people to make the first socialist revolution in history. Price's dispatches put you smack in the present tense of great changes and cause you to ponder these intense kinds of times (of war, repression, and widespread discontent) when abrupt leaps are the order of the day and seemingly ordinary, invisible and disposable people do extraordinary things. Price captures the joy of this liberating time as well as its many hardships and challenges. I also recommend: The Bolsheviks Come to Power by Alexander Rabinowitch Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed What Is To Be Done by V I Lenin The End of a Stage - The Beginning of a New Stage by Bob Avakian