• Only introduction to the Russian Revolution to be written after the fall of Communism
• New sources and archives made available since the fall of Communism are used as sources in Smith's introduction making most up-to date introduction available
• Concise, accessible, and illustrated introduction to key moment in Soviet history
• Treats all aspects and effects of the revolution, from political to social and economic developments
• Controversial new perspectives, indicating the Bolsheviks had real choices and their decisions helped bring about Stalinism.

This Very Short Introduction provides an analytical narrative of the main events and developments in Soviet Russia between 1917 and 1936. It examines the impact of the revolution on society as a whole—on different classes, ethnic groups, the army, men and women, youth. Its central concern is to understand how one structure of domination was replaced by another. The book registers the primacy of politics, but situates political developments firmly in the context of massive economic, social, and cultural change. Since the fall of Communism there has been much reflection on the significance of the Russian Revolution. The book rejects the currently influential, liberal interpretation of the revolution in favour of one that sees it as rooted in the contradictions of a backward society which sought modernization and enlightenment and ended in political tyranny.