Letter: Baffled by 1917? Just ask Trotsky
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: As a research historian I am very much in favour of Andrew Marr's suggestion that we "should honour the people in disorganised archives who burrow through individual life stories" ("Makers of their own tragedy", 26 March). I am less happy however at his implication that Orlando Figes has somehow written the history of the Russian Revolution according to Tony Blair.
What Figes has done is to uncover a number of interesting new details about the revolution while adding very little to our overall understanding of it. This is mainly because Figes, focusing on what the Russian people themselves did, misses the huge significance of the Western attack on the revolution from 1918. The revolution survived, but most of those who made it were killed in the misnamed Civil War with the White armies.
For a general understanding of 1917 and after, John Reed's Ten Days that Shook the World and Trotsky's mammoth History of the Russian Revolution remain by far the best guides. To these it is the task of the research historian, I'm afraid, merely to add footnotes of qualification or embellishment.
KEITH FLETT
Convenor, London Socialist Historians Group
London N17
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments