The Bolsheviks Volume II: How the Soviets Seize Power"We must seek to build a Russia based on three sound principles...Peace...Land...and Bread. NOTHING ELSE!!!" William Donaldson, newly promoted Charge d'Affaires for the United States Embassy in Petrograd, (formerly Saint Petersburg) Russia, could only cringe at hearing Lenin's stirring proclamation announcing the primary goals for the Petrograd Soviet. These ambitious words ran counter to the aims of his employer-the American government. As an American diplomat during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, William is obligated to support his country's self-serving objectives. But as the husband to Sonjya Mastrova, a Russian nation, William is torn: must he care out his duty or advocate a cause which he knows in his heart to be morally and ethically right? Since he was a conscripted diplomat, being named embassy charge d'affaires should have been the crowning achievement for William Donaldson. However, as Russia spirals ever deeper into chaos and revolution, his posting becomes a curse. Caught up in a web of intrigue woven by America's inept, luxury-loving ambassadors, William is a witness to the final overthrow of Russia's imperial family. His dealings with the weak Russian provisional government will provide William with a textbook example chronicling the pitfalls of democracy. As the faltering democratic provisional government splinters and becomes mired in gridlock, the Russian people become truly desperate. Knowing how desperate people will do desperate things, the situation becomes ripe for Vladimir Lenin and his henchmen to finally implement their own vision for Russia's future without any annoying outside interference. When that model is forcibly imposed, William can only lament at what he sees as the consequence for the Russian people of being yoked to the science of communism: "Is Russia's exploited peasant population any better off than they were before?" |
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The Bolsheviks Volume Ii: How the Soviets Seize Power, Volume 2 John D. Loscher Limited preview - 2009 |
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Alexander Kerensky Ambassador Francis Ambassador Marye American ambassador American diplomat asked Attaché Donaldson began Bolsheviks Cathedral Central Powers Charge d'Affaires Charge d'Affaires Donaldson Charge d'Affaires Wheeler cigarette command Commissar Cossack Czar Nicholas Czar Nicholas II czarina Donaldson family door Duma English eyes Fabergé Felix Yusupov Field Marshal front George Marye German going Gourko Governor Grand Duke Dimitri Grand Duke Nikolai Grigori Efimovich hand head hell Holy Devil husband Ibid Imperial Russia Lansing Lenin Leon Trotsky Mad Monk Marcarius marine Mastrova Meredith Metropolitan Patriarch military Mister President nation officer once peace Peter Petrograd President Wilson priest Prince Yusupov provisional government Rasputin Romanov Russian Army Russian Orthodox Catholic Secretary smile soldiers Sonjya Soviet spite tone took troops Trotsky U.S. Ambassador United Vladimir Vladimir Purishkevich wife William and Sonjya William Donaldson woman Woodrow Wilson words Yusupov family Yusupov Palace وو