Author Description

The memoirs of Paul Miliukov, acknowledged leader of the Russian liberals before the Bolshevik revolution, present the most comprehensive, colorful, and personal account ever written of the struggle of the liberals to establish a constitutional, representative government in Russia. As one of Russia's foremost prerevolutionary historians, Miliukov offers a wealth of information on the failure of this hopeful attempt. Miliukov describes his leading role in bringing together the various political factions to demand an elected legislative assembly after the 1905 revolution. He discusses foreign affairs - the Balkan problem, the crisis with Turkey, and the First World War, during part of which he was minister of Foreign Affairs. He relates the attempt to modernize the ponderous, backward systems of rural economy. He recounts the establishment of the Provisional Government in 1917 after the February revolution, his difficulties as a cabinet minister in the government, his forced resignation, the collapse of the liberal government, and the final Bolshevik victory. He also gives vivid portraits of other leading figures during this stormy period - Rasputin and Pobedonostsev, Nicholas II, Kerensky, Witte and Prince Lvov, and Lenin. Miliukov's memoirs pose the question of the efficacy of political freedom and representative government in a country undergoing explosive economic and social mobilization. The failure of the Russian liberal experiment has wide implications for the emerging countries of today. No other single volume from the period gives so much insight into the problems of the liberal experiment or offers so rich and complete a picture of the people and events of this long-neglected side of the Russian past. (From the inside dust jacket.)