tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post6891891425915570409..comments2024-03-29T03:41:12.499+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: It'll Be 100 Years Ago - On Tuesday - Since Comrade Lenin Taught The Bolshevik Band To Play. In The Meantime, Don't Miss This!Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-23168943639234661172017-11-03T16:17:07.220+13:002017-11-03T16:17:07.220+13:00Personally, I'd like to stay as far as possibl...Personally, I'd like to stay as far as possible from anything remotely resembling "what happened in Russia 1917-24". But each to his or her own. <br /><br />Reading about it from a distance, though, remains instructive. <br /><br />May I, therefore, recommend Roland Chambers' "The Last Englishman", which, as of last night, I've just finished reading. <br /><br />It's a biography of the English children's author Arthur Ransome, who was also a journalist and possible double or triple agent in revolutionary Russia, having gone there, essentially, to escape his first wife and associated domestic responsibilities. <br /><br />He ended up back in England, with Trotsky's former personal secretary as his second wife, after a hectic decade of shadow-boxing with both the Bolsheviks and the likes of Bruce Lockhart and Sydney Riley.<br /><br />It's highly readable.Victornoreply@blogger.com