No event since the French Revolution has occasioned such an outpouring of historical scholarship and such passionate debate as the Russian Revolution. The interest and the engagement are understandable, for the issues are complex and the stakes are high. The revolution was not only a most significant event in Russian history, transforming an antiquated society and changing the way of life of millions, it was also a catalyst in the development of our world. For better or worse, the interpretation of the revolution was not confined to historians; people from all segments of the political spectrum have always been aware of the political significance of historiography.

All aspects of the revolution have been well covered by historians, but none has received as much attention as the history of the revolutionary movement. This is understandable: revolutionaries fighting against the repressive tsarist regime were often willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause they deeply believed in. Many of them were extraordinary men and women, and their stories are fascinating. However, it may be an error to look for an explanation of the revolution in the work of underground subversives; for neither the tsarist government nor the provisional government were brought down by revolutionaries, or even primarily by discontented workers and peasants.