Melgunov, Sergei Petrovich

Na putiakh k dvortsovomu perevorotu: Zagovory pered revoliutsiei 1917 goda [On the Paths to a Palace Coup: Conspiracies Ahead of The 1917 Revolution]

Paris: Rodnik, 1931. Item #1404

231, [5] pp.; 22 cm. In original publisher’s wrappers. Light toning and edgewear; a very good copy of the first edition.

In this seminal prelude to his later volumes on the Russian Revolution, émigré historian and political commentator Sergei Melgunov explores the clandestine political maneuverings in Russia during the final years of the monarchy. Drawing from a wide array of testimonies, archival sources, and émigré interviews—including those with figures such as Aleksandr Guchkov, Pavel Miliukov, and Aleksandr Kerenskii—Melgunov reconstructs the atmosphere of intrigue and dissent that preceded the February Revolution. Special attention is devoted to the political role of the Masonic lodges, as well as the shifting allegiances among the Duma, military leadership, and palace circles. His central thesis—that the abdication of Nicholas II was not merely the result of popular unrest, but of orchestrated behind-the-scenes plotting—presents a compelling counter-narrative to Soviet historiography. Written with meticulous care and critical distance, this book is the first volume of Melgunov’s anti-Bolshevik trilogy "Revoliutsiia i tsar", which also includes "Martovskie dni" and "Kak bolsheviki zakhvatili vlast."

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