While attempting to synthesize a wealth of historical materials, Farber also assesses the extent to which the disappearance of Soviet democracy was due to objective circumstances, for example, the impact of the Civil War, and the extent to which it was the result of Bolshevik politics and ideology. In this context, the author shows how there were, contrary to later Stalinist and Cold War mythologies, considerable and significant disputes within the pre-Stalinist Bolshevik camp on matters relevant to the preservation of the substantial democratic elements of the October upheaval.

As the processes of glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union find a response from below in a movement for democracy that may not be willing to respect the limits of Gorbachev's programme, Farber's work acquires a timely quality for those who, inside or outside the Soviet Union, are searching for a usable past in which to root the new Soviet Spring.

In presenting data known only to specialists to a larger public ion an original, novel and accessible interpretative framework, Farber adds an important new dimension to our thinking about the Russian Revolution and the origins of the Soviet state.