The Russian Revolution Debate
The sheer apocalyptic scale of the Russian Revolution seems almost to defy comprehension. What began as a challenge to the decadence and complacency of the Romanov dynasty ended up in the slaughter and immiseration an entire people.
History has consigned the revolution to the tomb and celebrated its death but what, if anything, remains of the elevated goals and ideals which inspired it? Was the poison of Stalinism in Bolshevism from the beginning?
Can it teach us anything one hundred years on and if so what? Our panel of experts examine these and other questions.
Geoffrey Roberts is Professor of History at University College Cork. He has written widely on Russian history.
Maria Falina is a DCU historian of modern and contemporary Europe specialising in Eastern Europe.
David Aaronovitch is a Times of London columnist, broadcaster, and author. His most recent book is Party Animals: My Family and Other Communists.
Judith Devlin is Professor of History at University College Dublin.
Hugh Linehan is Culture Editor of The Irish Times.
Recorded at Printworks, Dublin Castle on 29 September 2017.