Overview

Based on extensive research in the archives of the Soviet Communist Party, and the Russian secret police, Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik stirringly recounts the political life of Alexander Shlyapnikov. Though purged from Soviet history books, Shlyapnikov was a leading member of the Workers' Opposition (1919-21), and the most prominent of their ranks to call for the trade unions-as distinct from the Communist Party-to play a direct role in realizing workers' control over the economy. Despite the defeat of this position, Shlyapnikov continued to advocate views on the Soviet socialist project that provided a counterpoint to Stalin's vision. Arrested during the Great Terror, Shlyapnikov refused to confess to his alleged crimes against the party, openly declaring the charges illogical and unsubstantiated. What emerges from Allen's political portrait is an Old Bolshevik who stands in striking contrast to Stalin's and the NKVD's image of the ideal party member.

Full Product Details

Author:   Barbara C Allen
Publisher:   Haymarket Books
Imprint:   Haymarket Books
Volume:   90
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.610kg
ISBN:  

9781608465583

ISBN 10:   1608465586
Pages:   426
Publication Date:   14 June 2016
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Introduction 1. From the Old Belief to Socialism 2. Emigration and the Revolutionary Underground 3. Organising Workers in the Revolutionary Year 1917 4. Labour Commissar 5. Defending Soviet Power and Unions in Civil War 6. The Workers’ Opposition and the Trade-Union Debate 7. Early NEP and the Trade Unions 8. Appeal of the 22 to the Communist International 9. Factional Politics in the NEP Era 10. Late NEP, Industrialisation and Renewed Repression 11. Purged from the Party 12. Exile, Arrest and Prison Conclusion Bibliography Index

Reviews

Drawing on a vast body of previously untapped archival sources, including top secret FSB files, Barbara Allen presents a nuanced, insightful, and compelling portrait of the leading worker-Bolshevik, Alexander Shlyapnikov, and of the time in which he lived. Her highly readable study is vital for all those seriously interested in the Russian revolution and the fate of the Russian labor movement under Lenin and Stalin. --Alexander Rabinowitch, The Bolsheviks Come to Power This biography of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual provides a vivid alternative to the common focus on the party's best-known leaders, and insight into Bolshevik political culture, internal debates and all. --China Mieville, October Barbara Allen has given us a fascinating perspective on the Russian Revolution, showing its strengths and weaknesses through the remarkable but ultimately tragic story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual. --Ian Birchall, Revolutionary Socialism For the 21st Century. The biography is an exemplary study of the rise and fall of a group of people commonly subsumed under the term Old Bolsheviks. ... Shlyapnikov's life journey possesses illustrative and explanatory potential and it can contribute to a better understanding of historical processes and phenomena which go beyond the individual. ... While endeavouring to understand Shlyapnikov, Allen constantly retains the required critical distance towards her protagonist. ... Barbara Allen has applied the biographical approach in exemplary fashion. Her book, which reads well throughout, should serve as encouragement to historians of Eastern Europe to pay more attention to the biographical form. --Andreas Oberender, H-Soz-u-Kult (translated by Ben Lewis). Drawing on material from seven archives, five in Russia and two in the United States, as well as extensive conversations with the Shlyapnikov family, Barbara Allen has provided the definitive biography of Alexander Shlyapnikov and made a lasting contribution to Soviet history in its first two decades --Alexis E. Pogorelskin, Canadian Slavonic Papers Allen s book is life writing at its best, and what a life! The book is a cracking good read. The drama is replete with touching and amusing personal detail and builds to a poignant, tragic end. Shlyapnikov s story enriches our understanding of Soviet political history and Allen delivers a model for a new generation of biographical studies of the remaining neglected leaders of the Russian Revolution. Lara Cook, Revolutionary Russia. The biography is an exemplary study of the rise and fall of a group of people commonly subsumed under the term Old Bolsheviks. ... Shlyapnikov's life journey possesses illustrative and explanatory potential and it can contribute to a better understanding of historical processes and phenomena which go beyond the individual. While endeavouring to understand Shlyapnikov, Allen constantly retains the required critical distance towards her protagonist. Barbara Allen has applied the biographical approach in exemplary fashion. Her book, which reads well throughout, should serve as encouragement to historians of Eastern Europe to pay more attention to the biographical form. Andreas Oberender, H-Soz-u-Kult (translated by Ben Lewis). Drawing on material from seven archives, five in Russia and two in the United States, as well as extensive conversations with the Shlyapnikov family, Barbara Allen has provided the definitive biography of Alexander Shlyapnikov and made a lasting contribution to Soviet history in its first two decades Alexis E. Pogorelskin, Canadian Slavonic Papers

Drawing on a vast body of previously untapped archival sources, including top secret FSB files, Barbara Allen presents a nuanced, insightful, and compelling portrait of the leading worker-Bolshevik, Alexander Shlyapnikov, and of the time in which he lived. Her highly readable study is vital for all those seriously interested in the Russian revolution and the fate of the Russian labor movement under Lenin and Stalin. <b>Alexander Rabinowitch, <i>The Bolsheviks Come to Power</i></b> Allen s book is life writing at its best, and what a life! The book is a cracking good read. The drama is replete with touching and amusing personal detail and builds to a poignant, tragic end. Shlyapnikov s story enriches our understanding of Soviet political history and Allen delivers a model for a new generation of biographical studies of the remaining neglected leaders of the Russian Revolution. <b>Lara Cook, <i>Revolutionary Russia</i>.</b> Barbara Allen has given us a fascinating perspective on the Russian Revolution, showing its strengths and weaknesses through the remarkable but ultimately tragic story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual. <b>Ian Birchall, <i>Revolutionary Socialism For the 21st Century</i>.</b> The biography is an exemplary study of the rise and fall of a group of people commonly subsumed under the term Old Bolsheviks. ... Shlyapnikov's life journey possesses illustrative and explanatory potential and it can contribute to a better understanding of historical processes and phenomena which go beyond the individual. While endeavouring to understand Shlyapnikov, Allen constantly retains the required critical distance towards her protagonist. Barbara Allen has applied the biographical approach in exemplary fashion. Her book, which reads well throughout, should serve as encouragement to historians of Eastern Europe to pay more attention to the biographical form. <b>Andreas Oberender, <i>H-Soz-u-Kult</i> (translated by Ben Lewis).</b> Drawing on material from seven archives, five in Russia and two in the United States, as well as extensive conversations with the Shlyapnikov family, Barbara Allen has provided the definitive biography of Alexander Shlyapnikov and made a lasting contribution to Soviet history in its first two decades <b>Alexis E. Pogorelskin, <i>Canadian Slavonic Papers</i></b>

Drawing on a vast body of previously untapped archival sources, including top secret FSB files, Barbara Allen presents a nuanced, insightful, and compelling portrait of the leading worker-Bolshevik, Alexander Shlyapnikov, and of the time in which he lived. Her highly readable study is vital for all those seriously interested in the Russian revolution and the fate of the Russian labor movement under Lenin and Stalin. <b>Alexander Rabinowitch, <i>The Bolsheviks Come to Power</i></b> This biography of a Bolshevik workerintellectual provides a vivid alternative to the common focus on the party s best-known leaders, and insight into Bolshevik political culture, internal debates and all. <b>China Mieville, <i>October</i></b> Allen s book is life writing at its best, and what a life! The book is a cracking good read. The drama is replete with touching and amusing personal detail and builds to a poignant, tragic end. Shlyapnikov s story enriches our understanding of Soviet political history and Allen delivers a model for a new generation of biographical studies of the remaining neglected leaders of the Russian Revolution. <b>Lara Cook, <i>Revolutionary Russia</i>.</b> Barbara Allen has given us a fascinating perspective on the Russian Revolution, showing its strengths and weaknesses through the remarkable but ultimately tragic story of a Bolshevik worker-intellectual. <b>Ian Birchall, <i>Revolutionary Socialism For the 21st Century</i>.</b> The biography is an exemplary study of the rise and fall of a group of people commonly subsumed under the term Old Bolsheviks. ... Shlyapnikov's life journey possesses illustrative and explanatory potential and it can contribute to a better understanding of historical processes and phenomena which go beyond the individual. While endeavouring to understand Shlyapnikov, Allen constantly retains the required critical distance towards her protagonist. Barbara Allen has applied the biographical approach in exemplary fashion. Her book, which reads well throughout, should serve as encouragement to historians of Eastern Europe to pay more attention to the biographical form. <b>Andreas Oberender, <i>H-Soz-u-Kult</i> (translated by Ben Lewis).</b> Drawing on material from seven archives, five in Russia and two in the United States, as well as extensive conversations with the Shlyapnikov family, Barbara Allen has provided the definitive biography of Alexander Shlyapnikov and made a lasting contribution to Soviet history in its first two decades <b>Alexis E. Pogorelskin, <i>Canadian Slavonic Papers</i></b>

Allen s book is life writing at its best, and what a life! The book is a cracking good read. The drama is replete with touching and amusing personal detail and builds to a poignant, tragic end. Shlyapnikov s story enriches our understanding of Soviet political history and Allen delivers a model for a new generation of biographical studies of the remaining neglected leaders of the Russian Revolution. Lara Cook, Revolutionary Russia. The biography is an exemplary study of the rise and fall of a group of people commonly subsumed under the term Old Bolsheviks. ... Shlyapnikov's life journey possesses illustrative and explanatory potential and it can contribute to a better understanding of historical processes and phenomena which go beyond the individual. While endeavouring to understand Shlyapnikov, Allen constantly retains the required critical distance towards her protagonist. Barbara Allen has applied the biographical approach in exemplary fashion. Her book, which reads well throughout, should serve as encouragement to historians of Eastern Europe to pay more attention to the biographical form. Andreas Oberender, H-Soz-u-Kult (translated by Ben Lewis).

Author Information

Barbara C. Allen, Ph.D.(2001), Indiana University Bloomington, is Associate Professor of History at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the author of Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik (Brill 2015 and Haymarket Books 2016).

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions