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Edward Alsworth Ross, one of the founders of the academic field of sociology, spent July-December 1917 traveling across the Russian Empire and talking to the people there. As he states in his brief introduction, "I have taken it as my business to describe impartially the major social changes going on in Russia ... in the latter half of 1917, and leave it to others or to time itself to judge them." Ross follows through on that promise remarkably well, describing Russian peasants, the urban educated class, industrial workers, women, religion, people who had been imprisoned under tsarism, religion, the people of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and the proposals for democracy, among other topics.
Though this unique account focuses more on the people and less on politics than other accounts of the time, Ross includes a fascinating account of a lengthy private interview with Trotsky in December 1917. He ends the book by looking ahead to Russia's possible future, from a perspective after the Bolsheviks took power but before the Civil War changed everything. Delving into important themes rarely mentioned in other foreigners' writings about the Russian Revolution, Russia in Upheaval gives a unique sense of the times.
List of contents
Contents; Rex A. Wade; Editor'S Introduction ; Russia In Upheaval; Preface ; Chapter I Twice Across Siberia ; Chapter Ii The Volga And The Caspian To Tiflis ; Chapter Iii Impressions From The Caucasus ; Chapter Iv The Film Of Russian Central Asia ; Chapter V The Rug Market At Merv ; Chapter Vi The Russian People ; Chapter Vii Soil Hunger And The Land Question ; Chapter Viii The Roots Of The Revolution ; Chapter Ix Returning Revolutionists ; Chapter X Revolutionary Movements And Parties; Chapter Xi Caste And Democracy ; Chapter Xii Russian Women And Their Outlook ; Chapter Xiii Labor And Capital ; Chapter Xiv Religion, The Church, And The Sects ; Chapter Xv The United States Of Russia ; Chapter Xvi Prospects And Lessons
About the author
Rex A. Wade is professor emeritus of history at George Mason University
