Vladimir Burtsev and the Struggle for a Free Russia examines the life of the journalist, historian and revolutionary, Vladimir Burtsev. The book analyses his struggle to help liberate the Russian people from tsarist oppression in the latter half of the 19th century before going on to discuss his opposition to Bolshevism following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Robert Henderson traces Burtsev's political development during this time and explores his movements in Paris and London at different stages in an absorbing account of an extraordinary life.
At all times Vladimir Burtsev and the Struggle for Free Russia sets Burtsev's life in the wider context of Russian and European history of the period. It uses Burtsev as a means to discuss topics such as European police collaboration, European prison systems, international diplomatic relations of the time and Russia's relationship with Europe specifically. Extensive original archival research and previously untranslated Russian source material is also incorporated throughout the text.
This is an important study for all historians of modern Russia and the Russian Revolution.
This is a superb and wide-ranging book that deserves an equally wide readership. There is something for everyone in it, since it can be read both as a conventional historical biography and in terms of the various discreet topics upon which it touches. It should be read by all those interested in the history of late-imperial Russia, but will be especially valuable for students of the revolutionary movement and emigration.
