Politicheskie deiateli Rossii (1850-ykh—1920-ykh gg.): Sbornik statei = The Russian Political Heritage (From the 1850's to the 1920's)
New York, NY: Izdanie “Novogo zhurnala, 1969. Item #1411
293 pages. 22 cm. Original publisher’s wrappers. A clean copy with minor edgewear.
This compelling volume by émigré historian David Shub (1887–1973) presents a richly documented panorama of Russian political thought and activism over the span of seven decades, with particular emphasis on revolutionary, populist, and liberal traditions. As a former revolutionary who later became a trenchant critic of Soviet totalitarianism, Shub combines autobiographical insight with rigorous historical analysis. Drawing from both well-known and rare materials, the essays probe the intellectual genealogies and ideological conflicts that shaped modern Russian political consciousness.
Key figures examined include the early populist theorists A. Herzen, N. Chernyshevskii, P. Lavrov, and N. Mikhailovskii; radical forerunners of Bolshevism such as P. Zaichnevskii, S. Nechaev, M. Bakunin, and P. Tkachev; as well as central Marxist leaders like G. V. Plekhanov and Lenin. Particularly valuable are Shub’s lesser-known studies on Russian liberalism during the First Duma, his critical reevaluation of the German–Bolshevik conspiracy in 1917, and his portraits of intellectuals caught in the crucible of revolution—Vladimir Korolenko, P. A. Kropotkin, M. Gor’kii, and others. Of special note is the essay “Evrei v russkoi revoliutsii” (The Jews in the Russian Revolution), a historically grounded yet politically sensitive treatment of a topic often distorted in both émigré and Soviet discourse.
Price: $200.00