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Evan Mawdsley

The Russian Civil War Paperback – February 24, 2009

by Evan Mawdsley (Author)

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"The best book ever written on the Russian civil war. A first-rate work of scholarly synthesis."―Robert McNeal

In St. Petersburg on October 25, 1917, the A commanding chronicle of the three Bolshevik Party stormed the capital city and turbulent years that brought the ironfisted seized the power over the Russian Provisional Soviet regime to political power. Government, which had been operating ineffectively since the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II eight months before. That October Revolution began the Russian Civil War, which in three years would cost the largest country in the world more than seven million lives.It was an apocalyptic struggle, replete with famine and pestilence, but out of the struggle a new social order would rise: The Soviet Union. Mawdsley offers a lucid, superbly detailed account of the men and events that shaped twentieth century communist Russia. He draws upon a wide range of sources to recount the military course of the war, as well as the hardship the conflict brought to a country and its people―for the victory and the reconstruction of the state under the Soviet regime came at a painfully high economic and human price.

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pegasus Books
Publication date

February 24, 2009
Dimensions

6.1 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1605980145
ISBN-13

978-1605980140
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Hands up: Who knew that American forces once invaded Russia? The Russian Civil War, writes Mawdsley (Modern History/Glasgow Univ.; Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941 - 1945, 2006, etc.), began just as soon as moved swiftly to consolidate power, repressing the socialists who dominated the nation as a whole but who were weak in the industrial cities. At the same time, Cossacks, monarchists, cadets and other foes of the new regime took up arms, while "the civilian opponents of the Bolsheviks, people of the moderate Left and Right, lacked effective combat forces of their own and played no parts." The contending extremist armies, Red and White, would be locked in war for the next three years, with units from the British, American and French armies appearing on various fronts to battle the Bolshevik forces. The state established a program of what the regime called "War Communism," taking emergency measures that in some cases turned out to be permanent. Radical policies of appropriation and state monopoly, backed by a powerful army, "helped the Bolsheviks to take power," writes Mawdsley, even if "as the months passed . . . the political benefits came to look more dubious" as productivity plummeted and food shortages gripped the nation - driving many farmers, in the bargain, into the anticommunist camp. The Whites soon began to lose the fight, however, routed at places such as Tsaritsyn, a city on the Volga that would be renamed Stalingrad. Mawdsley attributes the loss to many factors, from being outnumbered and outgunned to the staggering incompetence of many White generals and the lack of central coordination among the anti-Bolshevik forces. Sporadic fighting continued until 1922in Siberia, carried out by figures such as the Baron Ungern-Sternberg, "an unbalanced Baltic nobleman . . . already notorious for his atrocities in Transbaikal." After that time, though, Soviet domination was complete and would endure for another seven decades. A well-rendered account of a history too little known in the West.

Just how inevitable was the Red victory in the ferocious civil conflict that followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917? Mawdsley, an admirably levelheaded British historian, shows that despite the fractured nature and inherent weakness of the White forces, the odds were heavily stacked against the Reds. They faced foreign military intervention and a vast battleground that favored their foes.... Mawdsley skillfully boils down complex situations without oversimplifying them, and his vivid, readable account of this savage war is now the most authoritative in English.

The Russian Civil War is an event which generally gets lumped together with the the Great War. In fact, seven million people died because of it. That rather puts the American Civil War in the shade, though there are endless television dramas made on that conflict. Mawdsley takes us deftly through the myriad political allegiances and betrayals which led to such loss of life. Overwhelmingly we see the cancer of zealotry and dogmatism sweeping aside all humanity - a precursor of the horror to come under Stalin.

About the Author

Evan Mawdsley has written numerous books on Russian history, including The Soviet Elite from Lenin to Gorbachev; Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War 1941-1945 and The Stalin Years. He is Professor of Modern History at Glasgow University.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pegasus Books (February 24, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1605980145
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1605980140
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #971,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,890 in Russian History (Books)
- #27,945 in Military History (Books)
- #36,586 in World History (Books)

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Top reviews from the United States

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Thomas Reiter

Good but Dry

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2017

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This is a good, but not excellent account of the Russian Civil War. The author does a good job of describing the chaotic campaigns, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the Reds and the White, and some of the personalities involved. The book covers not only the purely military aspects of the Civil War, but also, the decisive economic, political, and diplomatic developments during the war.

I've given the books four stars instead of five because it is a rather dry read, and because the maps are completely unreadable on a kindle device (in fairness, presumably they would be adequate in a paper version), although even then the maps are collected together at the end of the book rather than placed closer to the relevant portions of the text.

Generally a recommended book about a complex and not especially well-covered topic.

4 people found this helpful

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William Theodore Clemmons

Excellent and concise history of the Russian civil war

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2018

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Though this book is only 290 pages, it provides a full detailing of the Russian civil war. The author has the rare gift of being concise and clear. he writes in simple declarative sentences that are easy to read and easy to understand. I really learned a lot from reading this book. if you want to know about the Russian civil war but do not want to read thousands of pages, this is your book. Bear in mind there are scattered typos in the text. I'm not sure how those survive the editing process. But, they don't really detract from the quality of the work.

3 people found this helpful

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Brian Wayne Wells

A Significant Book on the Russian Civil War

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2015

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Even when I was an undergraduate in the late 1960s, Russian History was a source of interest to me. However, I have only recently, in retirement, been able to return to this interesting area of study. I have very pleasantly surprised by the wealth of new material and published books that are now available on specific topics like the Russian Civil.

I enjoyed the book listing five individual military operations by the White forces which were the most dramatic and threatening to the young Bolshevik government. These five operations were: 1.) the Volga Campaign of September of 1918 which came out of Siberia and resulted in the capture of the city of Kazan; 2.) the campaign around the city of Ufa carried out by Admiral Kolchak in the spring of 1919; 3.) General Denikin's offensive from the south in May and June of 1919; 4.) Denikin's offensive from the south in September and October of 1919; and 5.) the Polish invasion of Russia from the west from April until October of 1920. Breaking down the entire Civil War into these five dramatic operations was extremely helpful to me as I read other books on the Civil War.

5 people found this helpful

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Victor A. Vyssotsky

Best short history of Russian Civil War

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 1999

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Among the innumerable books and essays on the Russian Civil War, this is by far the best book to start with. It's reasonably short, very readable, has helpful maps, and an excellent bibliography. It's one of the few books to present a coherent, unified account of an extremely complex and messy historical episode. Best of all, Mawdsley, who is (or at least was until recently) a professional historian at the University of Glasgow, writes his book without basing it on any particular political viewpoint, whereas the great majority of books on the Russian Civil War have an axe to grind. In order to keep the book readable and reasonably short, Mawdsley omits a great deal of important information; for the reader who wants to delve further, Volume Two of William Henry Chamberlin's `The Russian Revolution, 1917 - 1921' originally published in 1934, is still the book to read next after Mawdsley.
Unfortunately, Mawdsley's book is out of print and seems to be hard to come by. However, a determined book search can locate a copy, or of course your local library can get a copy on interlibrary loan. I wish it was back in print.

53 people found this helpful

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Phillip Parotti

The Russian Civil War

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2012

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Professor Mawdsley has certainly done his homework, and the book is filled with splendid detail, so much so that one comes away from a reading of it with multiple new insights on how the war was conducted and on the various campaigns which constituted the conflict. At the same time, Mawdsley's organization seems designed more for analysis and less for narrative than one might sometimes wish, so that in various chapters, one finds that the material is moving backwards and forwards over the same time frame in order to treat a variety of subjects ranging from politics and economics to actual combat.

4 people found this helpful

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Good Starting Volume -- Needs Fleshing Out

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2007

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This book is a light and quick read for an overview of the Russian Civil War for someone new to the subject. It is somewhat difficult to follow as the author jumps around in time as if he never came to grips with how to organize his material. The maps are less than emlightening, are too general, and do not aid the reader's comprehension. I was often searching the maps in vain to locate a city or town the author was referencing in the text. I finally had to make do with a map of the Soviet Union I had in my possession.

Interestingly, the author essentially omits the American participation in the intervention at Arkhangelsk, but that is probably to be expected from a British author.

Somehow the reader is left with the feeling that he hasn't read enough to understand the dynamics of the Russian Civil War, other to realize that the Bolsheviks were better organized than the Whites, much more monolithically directed and coordinated, and that the control of Moscow and the heartland of Russia proved decisive for the Reds. That could have been done in half the space, but a comprehensive treatment would require a tome of over a thousand pages. Personally I would like to see the author produce that tome with numerous maps.

38 people found this helpful

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srh2767

Good Book

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2012

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I highly recommend this book for anyone learning or writing about the Russian Revolution or the Russian Civil War. This book is full of facts and references. Although the book is not what I would consider light reading, the book is not difficult to understand.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Alan C. Daly

Alan Mature undergarduate University of Glasgow

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2008

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Had the fortune to have had Evan Maudsley as a tutor last year who whetted my appetite for Russian history. This is a wonderfull book on the Civil War and tells you all you will ever need to know.

I doubt there is a better book on the subject written.

10 people found this helpful

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