Ten Days That Shook the World (Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)

John Reed is an important figure within US-socialism, stemming from an era almost erased from US-history- that saw radicalism espoused by many & was eventually crushed by such capitalist's as Henry Ford. When the spectre of "reds" resurfaced in the 50's, McCarthyism would crush these radical notions once and for all. Reed, came from a rich Portland family- like people such as George Orwell and Tony Benn he would reject his background- moving from the playboy he was depicted as in Dos Passos' USA to a bohemian poet/playwright- but always his most dominant skill was journalism. He famously covered the Mexican War of 1916, the First World War and in this classic book, The Russian Revolution.

In many ways, this book is close to fiction- it sits well next to the Dos Passos book mentioned above. As AJP Taylor suggests in his excellent introduction this is not an exact history- "Reed's book is not reliable in every detail. Its achievment is to recapture the spirit of those stirring days. As with most writers, Reed heightened the drama, and this drama sometimes took over from reality". This book does have the dizzying detail of Eisenstein's key cinematic works, or the flow of Dos Passos or even Oliver Stone's Nixon.

Reed captured the complex events of the Russian Revolution in a style that is both readable and informative, turning the myth as it occurred into journalistic prose. I think this is the definitive book on a key event of the 20th century- the chapters each supported by a complex of appendices. I think that Ten Days That Shook the World is the ideal book to read on the Russian Revolution- as it is written from inside/around that event- not from the safety of the academic historian's perspective- such as in A People's Tragedy. It is a record of the early part of the 20th century, when Communism became salvation- prior to its demonisation, which in a manner- gave rise to National Socialism (though things are not quite as simple as this statement would suggest).

John Reed died shortly after finishing this book- which is notable for its affiliation with the Communist Party & an introduction by Lenin (reprinted here). He would enter the realm of myth, being the sole American to be buried within the walls of the Kremlin- and would be immortalised in Warren Beatty's biopic Reds (1981). Germaine Greer picked this out as one of her favourite books of the 20th century on Newsnight/Review circa the millennium. It is easy to see why- The Ten Days That Shook the World is a book that captures its time in perfect detail & remains a definitive work, despite the events that followed the Russian Revolution that saw millions die in its wake. A book that everyone should read...

Furthermore Reed is a biased source. It was no accident that the Communist Party of Great Britain first published this book in the UK, for Reed was a committed revolutionary, who wrote for the USA's foremost radical journal 'The Masses'. His purpose was not to produce a dispassionate account, but to inspire his readers and to further the cause of world revolution. Certainly Lenin believed that 'Ten Days that Shook the World' was a powerful weapon for world communism. As Trotsky commented, "Lenin, in his day, desired the incomparable chronicle of Reed to be distributed in millions of copies in all countries of the world".

Therefore the history student must regard this as a highly emotive, slanted, account. Nevertheless it has its own form of purity. Reed's sources are impressive. He knew, and talked to, a host of characters from all sides of the political spectrum and on all levels, both before and during the October Revolution. The book records interviews with people as widely diversified as Lenin, Trotsky, and Kerensky, through to the Bolshevik guards inside the Winter Palace. Furthermore Reed's professionalism as a journalist shines through, for these interviews provide acute pen portraits of the men themselves, as well as recording what they told him. One would expect Reed to write admiringly about Lenin and Trotsky, but he also writes fairly, and with a certain sympathy, about people in the opposite camp, such as Kerensky, Chernov and Schreider, the elderly Major of Petrograd. For instance, when he interviews Kerensky, a man totally opposed to the Bolsheviks, and one about whom Reed is scathing elsewhere, one is aware that Reed appreciates that, though this man is fighting for a different type of revolution, he is still trying to protect something marvellously different from what had been before.

Despite his bias, Reed is admired by both historians and statesmen. A.J.P. Taylor comments that "Reed's book was not only the best account of the Bolshevik revolution, but that it comes close to becoming the best account of any revolution". While George Kennan, the American historian, diplomat and architect of the US Cold War containment policy, who was certainly no lover of Bolshevism, describes the book as: "an account of the events of that time [which] rises above every other contemporary record for its literary power, its penetration, its command of detail".

Both the strength and weakness of Reed's style can be summed up by Taylor's comment that, while he over-dramatized much of the action and was not reliable in all his detail, he "recaptured the spirit of those stirring days" to such an extent that "Bolshevik participants, when they looked back, often based their recollection more on Reed's book than on their own memories". This is certainly true of Trotsky, for there are seventeen page references to Reed in the appendix to his 'The History of the Russian Revolution' and Trotsky quotes Reed both to back up his own opinions and to provide snapshot description of key events.

Ten Days That Shook the World covers the lead up to the October Revolution, through to the end of the Peasants Congress on November 29th. Strangely, Reed never specifies the actual ten days he is referring to, and it was by chance that I came across a reference to them in his near namesake, Christopher Read's book, 'From the Tsar to the Soviets'. Read, with an "a", identifies the last of John Reeds "Ten Days" as November 17. This puts the of the first day as the day of declaration of the Peasants and Workers Government on November 7, and the last as the day of the debate at Smolny, when four leading Bolsheviks resigned.

As Trotsky remarked, "John Reed did not miss one of the dramatic events of the revolution" , and certainly his descriptions of all the key events are superb. Whether he was really present at all of the occasions he describes is perhaps open to question, but certainly his copy provides the authentic sound, feeling and even smell, of being there. Reed's uniqueness is in his descriptions, but he also provides a wealth of detailed information and the reader is deluged with the names of factions, parties, regiments, militias, committees, sub committees, and both major and minor characters from all sides of the political spectrum. Part of Reed's talent is that he gets all this information across without boring, but I have to admit that I stopped noting down the Russian names after covering three sides of foolscap paper. The book also contains both a useful notes and explanations section and valuable source material in the appendixes, but the Penguin edition lacks an index, which would have been useful in so complex a work.

In the final analysis Ten Days That Shook the World may be flawed as a history textbook, but it is a magnificent story. It is a passionate account, told by a true believer, describing an event that he was convinced would make the world a better place. As such, it has its own form of truth.