This book is an up-to-date analysis of the Russian Revolution, its origins and its consequences. Robert Service has gathered together a mass of information from both Western and Russian sources and condensed it in an easily accessible fashion. For this third edition, he has added a brief survey of the historical literature in order to introduce each chapter. He has also included some striking cartoons, illustrating the revolutionary events. The book covers not only politics but also society and economics and explains one of the pivotal events of the twentieth century.