The Russian Revolution with Victor Sebestyen (LHF) (IN PERSON)

In the early years of the twentieth century, Imperial Russia was an ethnically diverse empire, stretching from Ukraine and Belarus in the west to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East. At the head of this profoundly dysfunctional polity was Tsar Nicholas II, whose Romanov successors had ruled Russia since the start of the seventeenth century with a lethal mixture of domestic cruelty, expansionist energy and reactionary incompetence – interspersed with occasional reformist spasms.

By early 1917, Russia was unreformable, and the tsar's authority irreparably damaged. In March of that year, Nicholas II abdicated and the tsarist system was overthrown. The provisional government installed in its stead to organise democratic elections lasted just eight chaotic months before being ousted by Lenin's Bolsheviks in the October Revolution.

Writing with crisp immediacy, Victor Sebestyen narrates an unprecedented era of political and social convulsion. The Russian Revolution changed the course of history, and, more than a century later, the backwash continues to be deeply felt across the world.

Victor Sebestyen was born in Budapest and was a child when his family left Hungary as refugees. As a journalist, he has worked for numerous publications, including The Times, New York Times, London Evening Standard, and Daily Mail. He reported widely from Eastern Europe when Communism collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, as well as covering the wars in former Yugoslavia and the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Victor's books include Twelve Days and Revolution 1989. He is based in London.

Copies of the book will be available at reduced prices at the event and the authors will be happy to inscribe them for you - or for someone you wish to give it to.

What better Christmas present for a book lover than a signed copy of a great book?

Can first-rate history read like a thriller? ...The journalist Victor Sebestyen has pulled off this rarest of feats.'- The New York Times

This is an exceptionally involving and horrifying book... Heaven knows (Sebestyen) can tell a story. - The Spectator

Sebestyens attention to historical detial is flawless. - Observer

This year we are presenting the London History Festival in a series talks which will take place in the Kensington Library lecture hall.

In Person tickets are £5 and include a glass of wine/juice.

*Concessionary rate of £3 per ticket is offered to pensioners, students and people on benefits.

**Tickets can also be bought in Kensington Central Library starting 15 October.

***All recordings tickets are FREE.

Doors open at 6pm for refreshments - event starts at 6.30pm

We look forward to welcoming you at the library!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Kensington Central Library, 12 Phillimore Walk, London, United Kingdom