Lenin on the Train

A meticulously researched account of Lenin's fateful rail journey across Europe to Petrograd, where he ignited the Russian revolution and forever changed the world. In the early spring of 1917, as the First World War stretched on and Tsar Nicholas II's abdication sent shock waves across Europe, the future leader of the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin, was far away, exiled in Zurich. When the news reached him, Lenin immediately resolved to return to Petrograd and lead the revolt. But to get there, he would have to cross Germany, which meant accepting help from the deadliest of Russia's adversaries. The German government, however, saw in Lenin's plight an opportunity to sow further confusion in an increasingly chaotic Russia and arranged for Lenin and a small group of extremists to make the journey in a sealed railway car. Now, drawing on eyewitness testimonies and wartime archives, renowned historian Catherine Merridale provides a riveting account of this enormously consequential journey as well as the underground conspiracy and subterfuge that went into making it happen. Writing with insight and formidable intelligence, she brings to life a world of counterespionage and intrigue, wartime desperation, illicit finance, and misguided utopianism. When Lenin arrived at Petrograd's now-famous Finland Station, he delivered an explosive address to the impassioned crowds. It was the moment when the Russian revolution became Soviet--and a system of tyranny and faith was born that would transform the international political climate.--From jacket.