Traces the power struggle between the Bolsheviks and the West at the dawn of the Russian Revolution, offering insight into the roles of diplomats, reporters, dissidents and others who impacted foreign policy throughout subsequent decades. "The early years of Bolshevik rule were marked by dynamic interaction between Russia and the West. These years of civil war in Russia were years when the West strove to understand the new communist regime while also seeking to undermine it. Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks tried to spread their revolution across Europe at the same time they were seeking trade agreements that might revive their collapsing economy."--Dust jacket flap.

"Published in 2011 in Great Britain by Macmillan." "Published in 2011 in Great Britain by Macmillan"--t.p. verso.

Revolution: Troubling journeys ; Russia on its knees ; The Allied agenda ; Cheering for the Soviets ; Revolution and the world ; In the light of the fire ; Diplomatic impasse ; The other west -- Survival: Talks at Brest-Litovsk ; Breathing dangerously ; Revolts and murders ; Subverting the Allies ; Germany entreated ; Subverting Russia ; A very British plot ; The German capitulation -- Probings: Revolving the Russian question ; The Paris Peace Conference ; European revolution ; The Allies and the Whites ; Western agents ; Communism in America ; Soviet agents ; The Allied military withdrawal -- Stalemate: Bolshevism : for and against ; Left entrance ; The spreading of Comintern ; To Poland and beyond ; Trade talks abroad ; The economics of survival ; The second breathing space ; The unextinguished fire -- Postscript.