Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 – A World on the Edge

Petrograd, we know it as St. Petersburg, was the center of Tsarist Russia and the center of the revolution that eventually gave rise to Soviet Russia. In this new book by Helen Rappaport, we explore the world of Petrograd on the eve of revolution, when the city is brimming with energy and there is something in the air. It is not, however, a view from the workers and revolutionaries; instead the view we get is from the Americans, British, and other foreigners, both diplomatic, journalistic, and military, who were living in the city at the time. Mrs. Rappaport mines the diaries, letters, newspaper stories, telegrams, and more of these expats living in Petrograd to explore how they felt the revolution, the fall of the Tsar, and the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Mrs. Rappaport does an excellent job weaving a narrative using all the sources at her disposal to show us that it was not only Russian citizens affected by this but also expats living and working in the city. This view is from a side that really did not have a stake in the outcome but that was fascinated by what was happening anyway.