The Bolshevik Myth


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 4 reviews)

The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920–1922) is a book by Alexander Berkman who with his partner Emma Goldman was deported from the USA under the 1918 Anarchist Exclusion Act and shipped to the young Soviet Russia. He describes his experiences in Bolshevik Russia from 1920 to 1922, where he saw the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Written in the form of a diary, The Bolshevik Myth describes how Berkman's initial enthusiasm for the revolution faded as he became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks and their suppression of all political dissent.

This book is interesting to compare with Deportation: Its Meaning and Menace. Last Message to the People of America written by Goldman and Berkman on the eve of their deportation.
(Summary by Wikipedia and Mark Chulsky) (10 hr 28 min)

Chapters

Preface 5:03 Read by SimonParent
The Log of the Transport “Buford” 28:51 Read by elibishop
On Soviet Soil 9:13 Read by Hindbridge
In Petrograd 23:12 Read by Hindbridge
Moscow 8:21 Read by Alan Mapstone
The Guest House 10:20 Read by XavierVO27
Tchicherin and Karakhan 13:15 Read by Jonathan Miller
The Market 14:57 Read by Jonathan Miller
In the Moskkommune 6:19 Read by KalenXI
The Club on the Tverskaya 10:29 Read by KalenXI
A Visit to Peter Kropotkin 10:50 Read by XavierVO27
Bolshevik Activities 13:25 Read by XavierVO27
Sights and Views 13:56 Read by XavierVO27
Lenin 9:08 Read by Steven Jon Peterson
On the Latvian Border 47:44 Read by lightcrystal
Back in Petrograd 19:23 Read by elibishop
Rest Homes for Workers 7:59 Read by Andy Glover
The First of May 7:45 Read by Lynette Caulkins
The British Labor Mission 19:55 Read by Richa Jain
The Spirit of Fanaticism 24:20 Read by Jonathan Miller
Other People 14:57 Read by Jonathan Miller
En Route to the Ukraina 12:25 Read by Jonathan Miller
First Days in Kharkov 19:30 Read by elibishop
In Soviet Institutions 13:07 Read by elibishop
Yossif the Emigrant 14:07 Read by elibishop
Nestor Makhno 12:11 Read by elibishop
Prison and Concentration Camp 18:37 Read by mleigh
Further South 5:39 Read by Brize C
Fastov the Pogromed 22:43 Read by Alex Kameleon
Kiev 10:49 Read by wriggleo
In Various Walks 26:59 Read by elibishop
The Tcheka 8:36 Read by MrRoarke865
Odessa: Life and Vision 27:06 Read by elibishop
Dark People 17:54 Read by Lynette Caulkins
A Bolshevik Trial 11:25 Read by mleigh
Returning to Petrograd 17:07 Read by Kierkegaard
In the Far North 8:59 Read by Marie Christian
Early Days of 1921 9:37 Read by Kierkegaard
Kronstadt 23:26 Read by Dan
Last Links in the Chain 28:39 Read by elibishop

Reviews

View from inside


(5 stars)

This is a powerful look at what went wrong during the Russian Revolution. Written by a disillusioned "hero" of the communist revolution.