Revolution in Danger

Writings from Russia, 1919–1921

Marxism & Socialism

Upon arrival in Petrograd in 1919, Victor Serge—the great chronicler of the Russian Revolution—found a society shredded by civil war. Threatened on all sides by invading armies from fourteen countries, and attacked from within by counterrevolutionary forces seeking to restore the Tsar, the fledgeling revolution was facing its darkest hours.

In these essays Serge paints a stark picture of the desperate conditions faced by Petrograd's working class, capturing the revolutionary enthusiasm that stood as the last defense of their besieged city. Challenging the revolution's critics, Serge defends the measures the revolutionary government was forced to take to preserve the gains workers and peasants had made in overthrowing Tsarist tyranny and pulling Russia out of World War I.

This is an inspiring account of the struggle to defend workers' power and Serge' enthusiasm for the revolution—and the prospect of a better future it represented.

About the author

Victor Serge (1889-1947) is best known as a novelist – with two of his works recently republished by the New York Review of Books – and for his Memoirs of a Revolutionary. Originally a participant in the anarchist movement, Serge became a committed bolshevik upon arrival in Russia during 1919 and lent his considerable talents to the cause of spreading the revolution across Europe. An eloquent critic of tyranny no matter its form, Serge was a leading member of the Left Opposition in its struggle against Stalin, a cause which ultimately resulted in his exile from Russia.

Ian Birchall is an independent writer and translator. His translations from the French include the writings of Victor Serge and Alfred Rosmer. He is on the editorial board of Revolutionary History and is a long-standing member of the British Socialist Workers Party.

Reviews

"The novels, poems, memoirs and other writings of Victor Serge are among the finest works of literature inspired by the October Revolution that brought the working class to power in Russia in 1917. But young radicals often have only a vague sense of him -- and sometimes not even that. The appearance of two collections of his work in Haymarket editions is a welcome development. It's never too late for activists to discover Serge, but when you do, it feels like a revelation ... His articles -- like the work of John Reed, his American friend -- let us follow revolutionary events as they unfold, as seen through the eyes of an exceptionally alert journalist."
-Scott McLemee

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