This incredible memoir recounts Fyodor Raskolnikov’s personal experience as a participant in the historic events of the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Raskolnikov, a long-time member of the Bolshevik Party, was a naval cadet in Petrograd when the February Revolution brought down the Tsar. He was soon elected to the Kronstadt Soviet, where he became a prominent revolutionary leader and activist.
From the first days of the revolution, to the work of campaigning for socialism among soldiers and sailors, to persecution by the capitalist Provisional Government, and finally to the seizure of power by a workers’ government – Raskolnikov describes these events with rich detail and political clarity. A vibrant picture emerges of the great struggle which took place on the streets and in the trenches, as well as in the consciousness of the masses, who were discovering their own capacity to rule society as they struggled against oppression.