Bolsheviks and Britain during the Russian Revolution and Civil War, 1917-24

Evgeny Sergeev is Chief Research Fellow at Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of World History, Russia and Professor of International and British History at Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia. He is the author of several books, including The Great Game, 1856–1907: Russo-British Relations in Central and East Asia (2013) and Russian Military Intelligence in the War with Japan, 1904-5 (2007).

• List of IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsChronologyIntroduction1. The Problem of Brest in Soviet-British Relations2. British Armed Intervention ‘By Agreement’3. The So-Called ‘Complot of Ambassadors’4. Oriental Trends in the Soviet-British Relations, 19185. ‘Stillborn Crusade’ against the Bolsheviks and the ‘Russian Question’ at the Paris Peace Conference6. The Baltic Problem, Soviet-Polish War, and Trade Negotiations7. From Bad to Worse: Soviet-British Relations in the Middle and Far East, 1919–228. Soviet Russia and Great Britain at International Conferences, 1922-239. Lord Curzon’s ‘Ultimatum’ of 192310. Britain’s Recognition of the USSR and its RepercussionsConclusionsBibliographyIndex

Sergeev, a highly respected historian of Russian foreign relations in the early twentieth century, has produced a deeply researched and nuanced account of the complex and dramatic story of British-Soviet relations during the revolution and civil war. I learned a great deal from his careful reconstruction of episodes that have long been mired in polemical dispute.