No matter what one thinks of Bolshevism, it is undeniable that the Russian Revolution is one of the great events of human history, and the rise of the Bolsheviki a phenomenon of world-wide importance. Just as historians search the records for the minutest details of the story of the Paris Commune, so they will want to know what happened in Petrograd in November, 1917, the spirit which animated the people, and how the leaders looked, talked and acted. It is with this in view that I have written this book. In the struggle my sympathies were not neutral. But in telling the story of those great days I have tried to see events with the eye of a conscientious reporter, interested in setting down the truth. J. R. New York, January 1st 1919. Notes and Explanations To the average reader the multiplicity of Russian organisations—political groups, Committees and Central Committees, Soviets, Dumas and Unions—will prove extremely confusing. For this reason I am giving here a few brief definitions and explanations. Political Parties In the elections to the Constituent Assembly, there were seventeen tickets in Petrograd, and in some of the provincial towns as many as forty; but the following summary of the aims and composition of political parties is limited to the groups and factions mentioned in this book. Only the essence of their programmes and the general character of their constituencies can be noticed…. 1. _Monarchists,_ of various shades, _Octobrists,_ etc. These once-powerful factions no longer existed openly; they either worked underground, or their members joined the _Cadets,_ as the _Cadets_ came by degrees to stand for their political programme. Representatives in this book, Rodzianko, Shulgin. 2. _Cadets._ So-called from the initials of its name, Constitutional Democrats. Its official name is “Party of the People’s Freedom.” Under the Tsar composed of Liberals from the propertied classes, the _Cadets_ were the great party of _political_ reform, roughly corresponding to the Progressive Party in America. When the Revolution broke out in March, 1917, the _Cadets_ formed the first Provisional Government. The _Cadet_ Ministry was overthrown in April because it declared itself in favour of Allied imperialistic aims, including the imperialistic aims of the Tsar’s Government. As the Revolution became more and more a _social economic_ Revolution, the _Cadets_ grew more and more conservative. Its representatives in this book are: Miliukov, Vinaver, Shatsky.