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Ten Days that Shook the World
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (November 2007) |
 1919 Boni & Liveright hardback edition |
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| Author | John Reed |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | History |
| Publisher | Boni & Liveright, New York |
| Publication date | 1919 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Pages | 371 |
Ten Days that Shook the World (1919) is a book by American journalist and socialist John Reed, about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 which Reed experienced first-hand. Reed followed many of the prominent Bolshevik leaders, especially Grigory Zinoviev and Karl Radek, closely during his time in Russia.
John Reed died in 1920 shortly after the book was finished, and he is the only American buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, a site normally reserved only for the most prominent Soviet leaders.
Contents |
| This book is a slice of intensified history — history as I saw it. It does not pretend to be anything but a detailed account of the November[1] Revolution, when the Bolsheviki, at the head of the workers and soldiers, seized the state power of Russia and placed it in the hands of the Soviets. —John Reed[2] |
John Reed was on an assignment for The Masses, a magazine of socialist politics, when he was reporting the Russian Revolution. Although Reed states that he had "tried to see events with the eye of a conscientious reporter, interested in setting down the truth"[2] during the time of the event, he makes it clear in the preface that "in the struggle my sympathies were not neutral"[2] (since the book leans towards the Bolsheviks and their viewpoints).
After the rise of Stalinism in Russia, Joseph Stalin argued that John Reed was wrong on many things in Ten Days that Shook the World, particularly the parts about Leon Trotsky, Stalin’s archenemy. The book portrays Trotsky as the hero of the Revolution and mentions Stalin only twice, and one of them being only in the recitation of a list of names. Consequently Stalin banned Reed's book along with Trotsky's works.
On March 1, 1999, The New York Times reported[3] New York University's "Top 100 Journalism Works of Journalism" list,[4] which placed Ten Days that Shook the World at #7.[5] Project director Mitchell Stephens explains the reasoning behind the judges' decision:
| “ | Perhaps the most controversial work on our list is the seventh, John Reed’s book, "Ten Days That Shook the World," reporting on the October revolution in Russia in 1917. Yes, as conservative critics have noted, Reed was a partisan. Yes, historians would do better. But this was probably the most consequential news story of the century, and Reed was there, and Reed could write. The magnitude of the event being reported on and the quality of the writing were other important standards in our considerations.[6] | ” |
Ten Days that Shook the World has a short introduction written by Vladimir Lenin himself:
| “ | With the greatest interest and with never slackening attention I read John Reed's book, Ten Days that Shook the World. Unreservedly do I recommend it to the workers of the world. Here is a book which I should like to see published in millions of copies and translated into all languages. It gives a truthful and most vivid exposition of the events so significant to the comprehension of what really is the Proletarian Revolution and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. These problems are widely discussed, but before one can accept or reject these ideas, he must understand the full significance of his decision. John Reed's book will undoubtedly help to clear this question, which is the fundamental problem of the international labor movement. V. LENIN. |
” |
- ^ According to the Gregorian calendar, the October Revolution takes place in November.
- ^ a b c Reed, John [1919] (1990-02-07). Ten Days that Shook the World, 1st edition, Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140182934.
- ^ Barringer, Felicity. "Journalism's Greatest Hits: Two Lists of a Century's Top Stories", Media, The New York Times, 1999-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ This list only includes works in the United States in the 20th Century.
- ^ The Top 100 Works of Journalism. New York University. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ Stephens, Mitchell. The Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century. New York University. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
