Revolution in Danger ─ Writings from Russia 1919-1921

"I Know of no other writer with whom serge can be very usefully compared. The essence of the man and his books is to be found in his attitude to the truth, There have of course been many scrupulously honest writers. But for Serge the value of the truth extended far beyond the simple (or complex) telling of it."---John Berge

Upon arrival in Petrograd in 1919, Victor Serge---the great chronicler of the Russian Revolution---found a society shredded 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 fledgling revolution was facing its darkest hours.

In these essays Serge paints a stark 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.

Victor Serge (1889-1947), best known as a novelist, was an active participant in the anarchist movement before becoming a committed Bolshevik once he reached Russia in 1919. An eloquent critic of tyranny no matter its form, Serge was a leading member of the Left Opposition in its struggle against Joseph Stalin, a cause that ultimately resulted in his exile from Russia.
Ian Birchall is an independent writer and translator. His translations from the French include the writings of Victor Serge and Alfred Rosmer. He is on the editorial board of Revolutionary History and is a long-standing member of the British Socialist Workers Party.