Russia Twenty Years After (Revolutionary Studies S.) - Softcover

Serge, Victor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0391038559 ISBN 13: 9780391038554

Publisher: Humanities Press International Inc, 1996

Synopsis

This is one of the most important documentary accounts of the Stalinist system written by the revolutionary novelist and historian Victor Serge. This was his first major work, written just after his harrowing release and expulsion from the Stalinist gulag, where he spent three years as an intransigent oppositionist to the Stalinist regime. Stalin nearly stilled Serge's voice, and in exile he, along with Leon Trotsky, took up the defence of those who were falsely accused and silenced. Twenty years before Krushchev's secret speech about Stalin's crimes, Victor Serge tried to alert the world to what Stalin was doing in the name of socialism in the USSR, to analyse how the Russian Revolution, which had been a beacon of hope for humankind, was in the process of devouring itself. Included in this edition is Serge's never before published (in English) retrospective of the Russian Revolution on its thirtieth birthday, "Thirty Years After the Russian Revolution", Serge's most eloquent summary and analysis of the Stalinist counterrevolution. The introductory essay by Susan Weissman, "Victor Serge: The Forgotten Marsixt", introduces the reader to Serge, evaluating his contribution to current understanding of the former Soviet Union. Susan Weissman also updates Serge's accounts of the fate of various oppositionists with information from the newly opened Soviet archives.

About this title

About the Author:

VICTOR SERGE (1890-1947), a Belgian-born Russian, was politically active in seven countries, participated in three revolutions, and spent more than ten years in various captivities. He published more than thirty books and left behind a huge, unpublished library estate. He was born in Belgian political exile (his parents were Russian anarchists implicated in the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander II) and died in exile in Mexico. He was the French translator of the works of Lenin, Trotsky, and Zinoviev; and the author of a splendid history of the first year of the Russian Revolution, countless political and literary essays, and three novels of the revolutionary movement.
SUSAN WEISSMAN teaches Russian politics at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. Once Gorbachev allowed some of the blank spots in Soviet history to be filled in, she began a campaign to rescue the manuscripts stolen from Serge when he was expelled in 1936. The search for the manuscripts continues with a team of researchers from Russia and a dedicated group of Serge scholars and enthusiasts abroad. Her book on Serge, THE COURSE IS SET ON HOPE, was published in 1995.

Synopsis:

A documentary account of the emerging Stalinist system written by novelist and historian, Victor Serge. The work was written just after his release and expulsion from the Stalinist gulag, where he spent three year as an oppositionist to the Stalinist regime. Twenty years before Khrushchev's secret speech about Stalin's crimes, Serge tried to alert the world to what Stalin was doing in the name of socialism in the USSR and analyze how the Russian Revolution was in the process of devouring itself. This edition includes Serge's retrospective of the Russian Revolution on its 30th birthday, "Thirty Years After the Russian Revolution". An introductory essay by Susan Weissman, "Victor Serge: The Forgotten Marxist" introduces the reader to Serge and evaluates his contribution to understanding of the former Soviet Union. Serge's accounts of the fate of various oppositionists are updated with information from the Soviet archives.

About this edition

• Publisher: Humanities Press International Inc
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0391038559
• ISBN 13: 9780391038554
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 350
• Editor: Weissman Susan