''My Disillusionment in Russia'' is a book by Emma Goldman, published in 1923 by Doubleday, Page & Co. The book was based on a much longer manuscript entitled "My Two Years in Russia" which was an eyewitness account of events in Russia from 1920 to 1921 that ensued in the wake of the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and which culminated in the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Loc ...

. Long-concerned about developments with the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

, Goldman described the rebellion as the "final wrench. I saw before me the Bolshevik State, formidable, crushing every constructive revolutionary effort, suppressing, debasing, and disintegrating everything".PREFACE To First Volume of American Edition
Much to Goldman's dismay, only upon receiving the first printed copies of the book did she become aware that (1) the publisher had changed the title; and (2) the last twelve chapters were entirely missing, including an Afterword
which Goldman felt was "the most vital part" of the book. Sympathetic to the initial Russian Revolution, the complete book is an impassioned left critique of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

as well as

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...

—an "all-powerful, centralized Government with State Capitalism as its economic expression".Afterword (Chapter 33)
of the (complete text) of ''My Disillusionment in Russia'', section III. The complete book is also critical of Marxian theory, which Goldman describes as "a cold, mechanistic, enslaving formula". After much back and forth with the publishers, the missing portions of Goldman's original manuscript were published in a second (American) volume ''My Further Disillusionment in Russia'' (also titled by the publisher) in 1924. In the preface to the second "volume" of the American edition, Goldman wryly observes that only two of the reviewers sensed the incompleteness of the original American version, one of whom was not a regular critic, but a librarian. A complete version of the complete manuscript was published in England with an introduction by

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

, also with the title ''My Disillusionment in Russia'' (London: C. W. Daniel Company, 1925

References

External links

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My Disillusionment in Russia
- RevoltLib Source 1923 non-fiction books Anarchism in Russia Anarchism in the Soviet Union Memoirs about Soviet repression Books by Emma Goldman {{Russia-hist-book-stub