How did the Russian Revolution evolve and stagnate during its first fifty years of existence? Isaac Deutscher, a prominent historian and biographer of Soviet leaders, examines the trajectory of the 1917 revolution from its initial radical promise to the bureaucratic consolidation of the mid-20th century. He argues that the revolution remained 'unfinished' due to the tension between its original socialist ideals and the authoritarian realities of the Soviet state.

Scholars recognize this work as a concise, analytical reflection from one of the most significant Marxist historians of the era. Readers frequently note the dense, intellectual prose that assumes a foundational knowledge of Soviet political history.