The German Revolution, 1917-1923 (Historical Materialism Book Series) Pierre Broue (Author), Eric D. Weitz (Introduction)

A magisterial, definitive account of the upheavals in Germany in the wake of the Russian revolution. Broué meticulously reconstitutes six decisive years, 1917-23, of social struggles in Germany. The consequences of the defeat of the German revolution had profound consequences for the world. Clocking in at 980 pages, the book relies on a ton of primary sources in German but this doesn’t overwhelm the gripping story of the revolutionary upheavals that rocked Germany from 1918-1923. The revolution was a product of a combination of factors: the slaughter of WWI intensified class antagonisms, eventually leading to huge cuts in wages and near-starvation rationing; the main working-class organizations, the unions and the millions-strong Social Democratic Party (SPD), supported the war despite its repeated pledges not to participate in the murder of workers of other countries; the victorious workers’ revolution in neighboring Russia in October, 1917, led by Lenin, Trotsky, and the Bolshevik party.

—Edited by Ian Birchall and Brian Pearce