MobileRead Forums - History Goldman, Emma: My Disillusionment in Russia. v1, 13 Oct 2008

Emma Goldman (1869–1940) stands as a major figure in the history of American radicalism and feminism. An influential and well-known anarchist of her day, Goldman was an early advocate of free speech, birth control, women's equality and independence, and union organization. Her criticism of mandatory conscription of young men into the military during World War I led to a two-year imprisonment, followed by her deportation in 1919. For the rest of her life until her death in 1940, she continued to participate in the social and political movements of her age, from the Russian Revolution to the Spanish Civil War.

My Disillusionment in Russia (1923) is Goldman's account of her experiences in Soviet Russia from 1920 to 1921 and what she saw as the Bolsheviks' betrayal of the revolution. Goldman was dismayed when she discovered that Doubleday, Page & Company had, without informing her, replaced her title "My Two Years in Russia." Even worse, the publisher cut the last twelve chapters of the manuscript, omitting her account of crucial events such as the Kronstadt rebellion and an afterword in which she reflected on the trajectory of the revolution after the Bolsheviks seized power.

At Goldman's insistence, the publisher attempted to rectify the situation by publishing the omitted chapters as a separate volume: My Further Disillusionment in Russia (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924). The complete text in one volume, with an introduction by Rebecca West, appeared the following year: My Disillusionment in Russia (London: C. W. Daniel Company, 1925), and is the version from which the following lrf book is presented.