Revolution in Danger

The author of Memoirs of a Revolutionary brings to life the unwavering commitment of red Petrograd during some of the Russian Revolution’s darkest hours.

Upon arrival in Petrograd in 1919, Victor Serge—the great chronicler of the Russian Revolution—found a society nearly shredded to ribbons 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 fledging revolution was facing its darkest hours.

In these essays Serge paints a bleak 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 defend 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’s enthusiasm for the revolution—and the prospect of a better future it represented.

Praise for Victor Serge

“He was an eyewitness of events of world historical importance, of great hope and even greater tragedy. His political recollections are very important, because they reflect so well the mood of this lost generation . . . His articles and books speak for themselves, and we would be poorer without them.” —Partisan Review