Conspirator: Lenin in Exile

by Helen Rappaport

Overview

Helen Rappaport's Conspirator is a vivid account of Vladimir I. Lenin's years of exile in Europe, showing that this often-overlooked period shaped the life of one of the 20th century's most important figures. In the years leading up to the Russian Revolution, Lenin traveled between the capital cities of Europe, developing a complex network of collaborators and co-conspirators that would play a significant role in the struggle to come. Rappaport sheds a rare light onto Lenin's early life, describing his relationship with his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and his extraordinary and unexpected love affair with beautiful activist Inessa Armand. In a riveting narrative, Conspirator describes the courage and the comedy, the setbacks, schisms and disappointments, the extreme persistence and the ruthless dedication that carried Lenin and his colleagues along the inexorable path to the Russian Revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465028597
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Helen Rappaport is a fluent Russian speaker and a specialist in Russian history. In 2002 she was Russian consultant to the National Theater's Tom Stoppard trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, and translated many plays by Chekhov. She is most recently the author of The Last Days of the Romanovs. She lives in Oxford, England.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Shlisselburg Fortress, 1887 1

1 Leaving Shushenskoe 9

2 Igniting the Spark 27

3 Konspiratsiya 45

4 Becoming Lenin 61

5 Dr. and Mrs. Richter 69

6 "The Dirty Squabble Abroad" 87

7 "Strong Talk and Weak Tea" 101

8 "On the Eve of Barricades" 117

9 Stolypin's Neckties 137

10 "The Congress of Undesirables" 151

11 On Thin Ice 171

12 "Why the Hell Did We Go to Paris?" 189

13 Inessa 207

14 "Almost Russia" 225

15 A Russian Spy in Galicia 245

16 "This Damned Switzerland" 257

17 "One Fighting Campaign After Another" 269

18 From the Spiegelgasse to the Finland Station 283

Epilogue: Good-bye Lenin 303

Acknowledgments 317

Notes 321

Bibliography 357

Index 371

Editorial Reviews

Russia-specialist Rappaport (The Last Days of the Romanovs) has created a wonderfully thorough and highly interesting account of V.I. Lenin's purposeful wanderings in Europe before the Russian revolution. Lenin emerges as the quintessential fanatic, convinced of his own infallibility as a messiah of Marxism. Charismatic and driven, he captivates individuals and seizes control of the “Bolshevik” wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Viewing himself as the embodiment of revolution, Lenin established underground operations in Munich, Geneva, London, Paris, and numerous other locations while feuding with anyone who dared question his approach (“We won't permit the idea of unity [with the Mensheviks] to tie a noose around our necks,” he said). His stoically loyal wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya provided her “Volodya” with constant support as he imposed his will on the Bolsheviks and, ultimately, on an entire nation. Too much attention is given to Lenin's affair with the beautiful, tragic Inessa Armand, but, on the other hand, some may find poetic justice in reading that Lenin very likely died of syphilis. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Booklist
“Rappaport delivers a vital restoration of the real Lenin.”

Russian Life
“The period of Lenin’s life when he wandered Europe, impoverished and isolated, prior to the 1917 revolution is recounted in fascinating detail in this new book… This volume contributes immensely to our understanding of how Lenin forged his cadre, his leadership style and the worldview that all came to be so brutally reflected in the oppressive state he founded.”

Kirkus
“Remini revisits the Compromise of 1850 as an important, cautionary tale for today…. [He] skillfully presents the debates by the Great Triumvirate – Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster – and decides that Clay’s compromise ultimately saved the Union by allowing the North ten years to prepare for war and to nourish the great leader it needed – Abraham Lincoln. A fresh look at the value of compromise in advancing the general interest.”

Seattle Times
“[A]n excellent account of Lenin’s formative years as a political exile from tsarist Russia that evokes the desperate scene of the European radical underground with nuance and in engaging detail…. Rappaport handles her subject with admirable objectivity, which makes the image of Lenin that emerges all the more damning.

From the Publisher