“Ten Days That Shook the World” is American journalist and socialist John Reed’s first-hand account of the Russian October Revolution of 1917. First published in 1919, Reed died soon after the book was released and was buried at the Kremlin in Moscow, one of only three Americans interred there, in tribute to his friendship with Vladimir Lenin and his important contribution to the new Soviet regime. While it was intended as an impartial and unbiased account, by Reed’s own admission, “in the struggle [his] sympathies were not neutral.” While Reed sided with the Bolsheviks and the Communist Revolution, his account of this pivotal time in world history is riveting, detailed, passionate, and brutally honest. “Ten Days That Shook the World” remains one of the most important and consequential works of American journalism and continues to influence the modern understanding of this violent and transformative time. An important historical document by an eyewitness of an event that would change the political landscape for most of the 20th century, “Ten Days That Shook the World” is a must read for those interested in communism, socialism, and how the October Revolution shaped Russian history.
