Interesting account of a British diplomat in Moscow and St. Petersburg during parts of 1917 and 1918 with insights into the chaos and cross-currents. He met many of the revolutionaries including Lenin and Trotsky, and also British agent Sydney Reilly, subject of the 1983 miniseries "Reilly, Ace of Spies", with Sam Neill and based on the book about Reilly written by Lockhart's son. ( )

Described as 'A Classic Bestseller of our Times', the book was an immediate success when published, in demand at home and internationally. The author, born in 1887, opens with a brief description of his early life and describes his journey to Singapore to begin working in the rubber industry in Malaya in 1908. Just a few years later he is in Moscow and the bulk of the book describes his time as Acting Consul-General and, after a break, as Head of the British Mission to the Bolsheviks. He graphically describes his encounters with Lenin and Trotsky and his time in Loubianka prison. What a different world it was just one hundred or so years ago! Or was it? ( )

Highly intriguing account by one of the footnote figures of the Russian Revolution. Lockhart was a consul in Moscow in the period just before and during the First World War, and in the first year or so of the Bolshevik period. He doesn't spare himself in this account, and notes the (multiple) mistakes he made, along with his indiscretions. But there are also some interesting observations, and a few what-ifs raised. It's clear from this account that the British Government was somewhat disorganized in its response to the October Revolution. Also interesting for its views on Trotsky and Lenin in their prime. Recommended. ( )

I read the Folio Society edition printed in 2003 with the introduction and final chapter by the author's son.

Imagine running the British consulate in St Petersburg and then in Moscow during the time leading up to and during the communist take over. And during the surrender to Germany taking Russia out of WWI. Lockheart did just that while he was in his late 20s and early 30s. Fascinating tale and amazing how botched some of the allies efforts were to make things better in Russia. At the same time you feel so sad knowing that the success of the communists will end up resulting in the death of millions of their own countrymen. ( )

Eye witness memoir of RHBH, as a young diplomat on his first overseas posting, in Russia during WWI and the cataclysmic events of the Russian Revolution. Arrested in 1918, in the wake of an attempt to assassinate Lenin, Bruce Lockhart is eventually freed and leaves Russia. ( )