All but the most rabid and delusional fanatics recognize Stalin for the monster he was, but Lenin is generally sidelined in the discussion. Which is a shame, really, because I think he's much more interesting (and sympathetic, frankly, though I don't know much about Russian history at all).
And do you know any good books on the revolution and USSR in general? 
"We feel safe when we read what we recognise, what does not challenge our way of thinking.... a steady acceptance of pre-arranged patterns leads to the inability to question what we are told."
~Camilla
Ghavrel is Ghavrel is Ghavrel
*MySmiley*
~Camilla
Ghavrel is Ghavrel is Ghavrel
*MySmiley*
The February Revolution and Kerensky’s Missed Opportunity
- 13/03/2017 09:37:00 PM
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Fascinating stuff
- 13/03/2017 10:52:58 PM
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Who knows? It could have been worse off.
- 13/03/2017 11:37:54 PM
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What's your opinion on Lenin?
- 14/03/2017 02:06:59 AM
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Lenin. A monster.
- 14/03/2017 12:55:18 PM
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Thanks. I'll ask him too. *NM*
- 14/03/2017 03:01:36 PM
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Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky were all bloodthirsty mass murderers.
- 14/03/2017 08:59:06 PM
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That's fascinating. But give me a book recommendation!
- 14/03/2017 09:15:57 PM
468 Views
Start with a general history of Russia
- 14/03/2017 10:17:22 PM
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Read Figes first, I suppose.
- 14/03/2017 10:55:23 PM
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Thanks, Tom. I've been putting off reading good literature because of my unfamiliarity with Russia. *NM*
- 15/03/2017 02:12:10 AM
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Which books have you put off reading? *NM*
- 15/03/2017 12:05:32 PM
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DEMONS and THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV are the big two.
- 15/03/2017 02:58:13 PM
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You don't necessarily need to know the history.
- 15/03/2017 03:15:38 PM
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I'm always afraid I'm missing something critical, though!
- 15/03/2017 03:50:59 PM
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Annotations are amazing. My eBook version of War and Peace was the same.
- 15/03/2017 04:03:59 PM
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Tolstoy was a reprehensible human being
- 15/03/2017 04:02:52 PM
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I had no idea. I was under the impression he was deeply devout.
- 16/03/2017 01:47:43 AM
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Here's one example:
- 16/03/2017 02:06:45 AM
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Good lord. The man sounds deranged. But that's fascinating! Is there a good biography on him? *NM*
- 16/03/2017 07:50:10 AM
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For what it's worth, I read Lenin & Trotsky as genuine idealists, while Stalin as just a thug
- 15/03/2017 11:16:36 AM
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Didn't the 40k authors mainly crib from the Nazis, commissariat excepted? *NM*
- 15/03/2017 03:00:17 PM
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I think that's entirely incorrect.
- 15/03/2017 04:00:54 PM
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Fascinating post. I so need to read up on Soviet history. And Russian history. *NM*
- 15/03/2017 11:10:29 PM
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I didn't mean stupid or brutish, I meant more like a mafia don than a statesman
- 16/03/2017 12:18:34 PM
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Well if you want to completely redefine the phrase "just a thug", perhaps you're right
- 16/03/2017 02:43:38 PM
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Good point
- 16/03/2017 09:52:29 PM
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I hear what you're saying, but...
- 16/03/2017 11:53:19 PM
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Yeah, it doesn't really matter if the motive is purely power seeking, or revenge. *NM*
- 17/03/2017 12:57:19 AM
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Seems kind of nonsensical
- 14/03/2017 01:33:49 AM
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I still think democracy among those insidiously intrusive Western values Russia resists so fiercely
- 14/03/2017 02:37:39 PM
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Is it your persistant anti-Russia bias that makes you so dogmatic?
- 14/03/2017 02:51:23 PM
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Look, we both know I consider your knowledge of Russia to be non-existent and that your own bias
- 14/03/2017 03:27:05 PM
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Very interesting article. One thing that's struck me more and more about WW1 is...
- 14/03/2017 06:34:14 PM
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Re: Very interesting article. One thing that's struck me more and more about WW1 is...
- 15/03/2017 11:58:01 AM
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What a terrible article
- 14/03/2017 08:04:50 PM
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Your criticisms of the scholarship found in posted articles never fail to make me laugh.
- 14/03/2017 09:02:54 PM
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I don't think anyone's ever gotten an open peer review from me
*NM*
- 14/03/2017 11:54:45 PM
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*NM*
- 14/03/2017 11:54:45 PM
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