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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | DK254.A8 G45 2000 | Adult Non-Fiction | Central Closed Stacks | Searching... | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
In the winter of 1909, a political bombshell exploded in tsarist Russia. Scandal swept not only the empire but the entire world with the exposure of the secret life of one man. Newspaper headlines introduced him as a twentieth-century Judas.
Author Notes
Anna Geifman is associate professor of history at Boston University.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Geifman (Boston Univ.) reassesses the career of Evno Azef on the basis of archival material. Azef was no "provocateur" who inveigled revolutionaries into assassinations that also pleased his vengeful official paymasters. This fantastic scenario, which helped to blacken the reputation of the government, is thoroughly countered by the author. Azef was a government spy who, with police encouragement, maneuvered himself into a major role in the Socialist Revolutionary Party as liaison to the leadership of the Party Combat Organization. He did not initiate and actually averted many assassinations by informing the police in advance. The book is very useful despite Geifman's obvious distaste for both Azef and his enemies. Geifman's analysis of Azef's "anxieties" seems superfluous; her contempt for his lack of "idealism" and desire to escape poverty is apparent. Still, she does acknowledge that Azef's practicality and ability to improvise won the admiration of his revolutionary comrades. Her portrait of the lives of the revolutionaries makes clear the lies, blackmail, and dishonesty that were everyday features of their existence. General readers; upper-division undergraduates and above. D. Balmuth; Skidmore College
Table of Contents
| Note on Names and Dates | p. viii |
| Acknowledgments | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 A Frightened Child | p. 11 |
| 2 Yet Another Way to Sell Your Soul | p. 31 |
| 3 Terrorist-Neophyte, 1902-1905 | p. 51 |
| 4 Terrorist-Virtuoso, 1905-1908 | p. 85 |
| 5 The Exposure | p. 105 |
| 6 The Public Scandal: Looking for the Guilty Head | p. 123 |
| 7 Fugitive Incognito | p. 143 |
| Epilogue | p. 167 |
| Abbreviations Used in Notes | p. 183 |
| Notes | p. 185 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 235 |
| Index | p. 241 |