Ten days that Shook the World (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

John Reed (Author), Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Introduction), A. J. P. Taylor (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2007 | Series: Penguin Classics

An impassioned firsthand account of the Russian Revolution

An American journalist and revolutionary writer, John Reed became a close friend of Lenin and was an eyewitness to the 1917 revolution in Russia. Ten Days That Shook the World is Reed's extraordinary record of that event. Writing in the first flush of revolutionary enthusiasm, he gives a gripping account of the events in Petrograd in November 1917, when Lenin and the Bolsheviks finally seized power. Containing verbatim reports both of speeches by leaders and of the chance comments of bystanders, and set against an idealized backdrop of soldiers, sailors, peasants, and the proletariat uniting to throw off oppression, Reed's account is the product of passionate involvement and remains an unsurpassed classic of reporting.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Reed (1887-1920), a journalist and poet-adventurer who became the hero of a generation of radical intellectuals, is buried with other Bolshevik luminaries beside the Kremlin wall.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin né Ulyanov (1870-1924) became the first head of the Soviet Union and the primary theorist of his own variant of Marxism.
A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) was a renowned English historian and author.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141442123
• ISBN-13: 978-0141442129
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > History > Historical Study > Revolutionary

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a note about the publishing history, August 3, 2009

By 

Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ten days that Shook the World (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is from George Orwell's proposed preface to "Animal Farm":

"At the death of John Reed, the author of 'Ten Days that Shook the World' -- a first-hand account of the early days of the Russian Revolution -- the copyright of the book passed into he hands of the British Communist Party, to whom I believe Reed had bequeathed it. Some years later the British Communists, having destroyed the original edition of the book as completely as they could, issued a garbled version from which they had eliminated mentions of Trotsky and also omitted the introduction written by Lenin."

Don't worry, though. This Penguin Classics edition is the version of Reed's book as originally issued, with all the Trotsky references and even Lenin's preface intact.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten Days That Shook The World, April 19, 2009

By 

David Dove "paxdove" (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ten days that Shook the World (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

A fascinating, dramatic historical document penned by John
Reed of the Russian Bolshevik revolution. Skip
the totally unnecessary revisionist introduction written by
A.J.P. Taylor in the Penquin paperback edition added
gratuitously in 1977 and enjoy this masterful work.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How Lenin seized power, November 14, 2010

By 

Ed Gehead - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ten days that Shook the World (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

A valuable and detailed account of the events during a few days in October/November 1917 when the communists wrestled power from the Kerensky provisional government. American John Reed was as naive as the Russian common man who joined the then populist Communist movement believing that it was well-intentioned and would govern compassionately. At its very beginning when Reed was involved the Communist regime had not yet exposed its brutal inhuman side. What Reed witnessed was the intense maneuvering that occurred as Kerensky attempted to retain power and Lenin/Trotsky countered by setting up a shadow organization that finally prevailed by getting the support of a military that was in mutiny over the continuation of the WWI. Even today Reed's account of the maneuvering during the final days of the Kerensky government is considered the most detailed and accurate. However, it should be noted that the communists destroyed most other accounts of this period because they were not favorable to the communists.