Inside the Enigma British Officials in Russia, 1900-39

by Hughes, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781852851606
• ISBN10: 1852851600
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-01
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

The twentieth century has been fundamentally shaped by changes in Russia, where disaster in the First World War was followed by the fall of the Tsar. Nicholas II's replacement first by Kerensky's liberal government then by the Bolsheviks, and the subsequent Civil War and foreign intervention, led to the erection of a system of state tyranny previously unthought of. The Bolshevik regime, with its ideological hatred of other regimes, was a threat to the west where developments in Russia were watched with both horror and fascination. Britain's information about this series of extraordinary events, and about what might be about to happen next, was largely dependent on the small number of British officials, mainly diplomats, posted in Russia. "Inside the Enigma gives us a view from an unusual and privileged angle of the history of Russia between the turn of the century and the beginning of the Second World War. The discomforts and privations suffered by British officials were matched by their frustration. Impenetrable Tsarist court intrigue was replaced by a wall of disinformation and suspicion after the Bolshevik seizure of power. Nevertheless, what they saw and reported makes remarkable reading.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
1 Diplomats and Russia	1	(12)
2 There Will be a Catastrophe	13	(40)
3 Drawing Near the End	53	(30)
4 A Scene of Extraordinary Disorder	83	(34)
5 Robbery and Murder	117	(28)
6 The Worst Horrors in History	145	(38)
7 A Very Ordinary Bureaucracy	183	(38)
8 A Grotesque Vision of Life	221	(46)
9 Conclusion	267	(10)
Notes	277	(38)
Bibliography	315	(12)
Index	327