THREE REVOLUTIONS

Present at the revolutions.

Hall, professor of modern history at the University of Leeds, England, divides his history into six “epic journeys”: Lenin’s 2,000 miles to Petrograd from exile in Switzerland, Mao’s 6,000-mile “Long March” across China in 1934-35, Fidel Castro’s 1956 return to Cuba from Mexico, and three American journalists’ travels to track them down. Socialist activist John Reed (1887-1920) arrived in Russia in August 1917. He had little sympathy with the March revolution that overthrew the czar because its leaders were conventional liberals, but Bolshevik rhetoric thrilled him. Witnessing the October revolution, he not only admired Lenin but participated in his government. His 1919 account, Ten Days That Shook the World, received a great deal of attention despite its politics and remains a journalistic classic. With the Chinese civil war raging and a rebel army newly established in the distant northwest, journalist Edgar Snow (1905-1972) wangled permission to enter the area. Aware that Snow was an establishment figure, Mao and his cadre welcomed him with open arms; his flattering portrayal, Red Star Over China, released in 1937, was a worldwide bestseller and revelation at a time when almost no one knew anything about its subject. Herbert Matthews (1900-1977) was a middle-aged New York Times editor in 1957 when Castro, an obscure figure leading a purported rebellion against Cuba’s dictator, let it be known that he would welcome an interview. In an odd parallel with Snow’s experience, Matthews was conducted into a wilderness, and his articles launched the popular image of Fidel as a romantic revolutionary committed to bringing justice to his people. The reporters’ reputations suffered after their subjects took power—rebellions against unpopular governments usually get good press until they succeed.

A captivating account of three revolutionaries and the intrepid journalists who brought their stories to the world.