October: The Story of the Russian Revolution

By China Miéville

Multi-award-winning author China Miéville captures the drama of the Russian Revolution in this “engaging retelling of the events that rocked the foundations of the twentieth century” (Village Voice)

In February of 1917 Russia was a backwards, autocratic monarchy, mired in an unpopular war; by October, after not one but two revolutions, it had become the world’s first workers’ state, straining to be at the vanguard of global revolution. How did this unimaginable transformation take place?

In a panoramic sweep, stretching from St. Petersburg and Moscow to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire, Miéville uncovers the catastrophes, intrigues and inspirations of 1917, in all their passion, drama and strangeness. Intervening in long-standing historical debates, but told with the reader new to the topic especially in mind, here is a breathtaking story of humanity at its greatest and most desperate; of a turning point for civilization that still resonates loudly today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781784782795

China Miéville

China Miéville lives and works in London. He is three-time winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award and has also won the British Fantasy Award twice. The City & The City, an existential thriller, was published to dazzling critical acclaim and drew comparison with the works of Kafka and Orwell and Philip K. Dick. His novel Embassytown was a first and widely praised foray into science fiction.

Reviews for October

[marse_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A week by week, sometimes day by day retelling of the disorganized, disheveled and haphazard events leading up to Russia's October Revolution (November 7 by Gregorian calendar). It's amazing, really, that the Bolsheviks ended up in power after all the back and forth between factions, parties, military and unions. For much of it, it seemed, no one entity was in control and the end result could have gone in many different ways. Mieville's research is astounding given the fact that he does not himself read Russian. My favorite parts are when he throws in little snippets like news bulletins about murders, attacks, horrible disasters that befell people during this chaotic time.

[philipjhunt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not Mieville's usual stuff, but written with his usual panache and the occasional tendency to invent words which work. Quite the Shakespeare. This is a short history of how the Bolsheviks got to take charge in Russia. It tracks the characters (and beware, they are numerous) as they weave between meetings, events and a lot of talking. It's a fairly heavy read owing to the complexity of the events but Mieville's writing talents help to keep us on track.

[spounds_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good. It was hard to follow some of the names and groups after awhile. All the committees started to sound alike. Still a good listen.

[jonfaith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The old regime was vile and violent, while Russian liberalism was weak, and quick to make common cause with reaction. All the same, did October lead inexorably to Stalin? It is an old question, but one still very much alive. Is the gulag the telos of 1917?

The timing appears apt. A sunny Sunday in June begs for calm. Jihadis again rocked the night before. There is a thirst for deliverance in the air, again. Always. While I appreciate the urgency of the book, I am doubtful about the necessity. I applaud Miéville for the effort and especially the Further Reading section. His analysis is painfully fair but emotionally neutral. This measured approach is leery of ghosts: Bunny Wilson and Nabokov frothing in polemic, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, Figes making sock puppet accounts on Amazon to denounce authors. Shit, if I didn't exist would Orlando invent me? That's enough vanity for one day. Edward Crankshaw provided a solid narrative history of these events, as have many others. This isn't a waste of anyone's time, nor is it revelatory.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is like an outline of what happened to whom in St Petersberg in the first 10 months of 1917. Some background is given for the situation and how in Feb 1917 bad choices on bad days lead to the fall of the government and resulted in a group that didn't seem able to govern leading the government (Provisional Government) and a group with many different ideas about what leadership should be trying to avoid governing (Soviet). It details how the Bolshevik influence grew and ebbed and coalesced in response to successes, failures, treachery, attacks, and leadership until they were pretty much the only popular group with coherent leadership. It is in the Glossary of Personal Names that I found heart break.Miéville gives brief descriptions of 55 people 55-17 dead before Lenin in 1924 38 -2 deaths at unknown times, probably outside Russia 36-13 people fled Russia - Trotsky killed on Stalin's orders 23 -13 people executed by Stalin or died imprisoned during his lifetimeOnly 5 of the listed individuals outlived Stalin

[fugitive_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge fan of China Miéville's entire fiction oeuvre to date. This includes some of his more critically problematic works such as RAILSEA and the more recent THIS CENSUS-TAKER, both of which are near the top of my list of personal favorites. Mr. Miéville's OCTOBER is my first foray into his non-fiction and and I personally find it wanting. It's not that the book is bad or unreadable, but it feels as if Mr. Miéville is constrained by the historical record, odd as that may seem. To be honest, this review may be more of a criticism of myself as a reader than the author's own craftsmanship. This is one of those books that I read thinking all along that I was learning a lot about a subject in which I was not very well versed, that I found impressive, and that I recognized as an extremely well written historical book. But it just didn't get me entertained or challenged to expand my thinking as his other works have made me do.If I were to have any specific complaints, the main one would be the pacing which I found a bit slow. Secondarily, I found the number of people and places covered caused me to sometimes get confused (that's something I've generally found about all things Russian, I have to confess). Again, the historical record is the historical record, and that has directed the subject matter of the book.Great book, not for me, maybe not for others who are fans of the author's other work to date.