Description
Book SynopsisAlexandra Kollontai was a key leader of the Russian Socialist movement, the only woman in the early Soviet government, and one of the most famous women in Russian history. She worked tirelessly all her life, as a speaker, writer, and organizer for women's emancipation. This compelling biography recounts her life for an emerging generation of fighters for women's liberation.
Trade Review"A very detailed life-story of this extraordinary woman . . . Cathy Porter has written a sad, serious, and very readable book . . ." —Tamara Deutscher, Marxism Today (first edition) "Alexandra Kollontai has the potential to be a true delight for the connoisseur by providing an alternative historical account of Russia and the socialist movement. However, what makes it transcend time is Kollontai's chief belief that women should be at the centre of the economy, not the periphery" —Spokeman "an interesting and detailed account of some of the most exciting years in working class history" —Socialist Review"Kollontai, a staunch opponent of the first world war, broke with moderates who supported the war and joined the Bolsheviks, becoming a vital figure in the women’s liberation movement for which she struggled throughout her life. She was the first woman ever to be appointed an ambassador to Norway and wrote: “I realised that I had thereby achieved a victory not only for myself, but for women in general … When on occasion I am told that it is truly remarkable that a woman has been appointed to such a responsible position, I always think to myself that in the final analysis … what is of a wholly special significance here is that a woman, like myself, who has settled scores with the double standard and who has never concealed it, was accepted into a caste which to this very day staunchly upholds tradition and pseudo-morality.” —Tariq Ali
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Chronology xi Introduction 1 Chapter One: Too Much Family Happiness 7 Chapter Two: Small Deeds 38 Chapter Three: Marxists and Revisionists 65 Chapter Four: What Is To Be Done? 85 Chapter Five: After Bloody Sunday 103 Chapter Six: Heckling the Feminists 121 Chapter Seven: Exiled in Workers’ Europe 141 Chapter Eight: The Collapse of Internationalism 164 Chapter Nine: War on War! 190 Chapter Ten: Agitating for Revolution 213 Chapter Eleven: Militant Spring 233 Chapter Twelve: Peace, Bread, Land and Justice 250 Chapter Thirteen: Cooks and Commissars 269 Chapter Fourteen: Civil War 293 Chapter Fifteen: The Crisis of the Revolution 323 Chapter Sixteen: Workers’ Opposition 347 Chapter Seventeen: Exiled in Diplomats’ Europe 372 Chapter Eighteen: Years of Uncertainty 390 Chapter Nineteen: The Purges, Fascism and War 412 Chapter Twenty: The Last Years 445 Notes 452 Bibliography 474 Organisations and Russian Terms 499 Index
