A people's tragedy

This book presents a panorama of Russian society on the eve of the revolution and narrates the story of how these social forces were violently erased.

Figes argues that the failure of democracy in 1917 was deeply rooted in Russian culture and social history, and that the revolution contained the seeds of its own degeneration into violence and dictatorship.

The book includes miniature histories of individuals, tracing their fortunes as they saw their hopes die and their world crash into ruins.

It also covers the broader context of war, civil war, famine, and the eventual rise of a one-party state under the shadow of Stalin.