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The Petrograd Consignment
1917 - Along the Western Front the forces of the Allies and the Imperial German Army are locked in deadly stalemate. In only a matter of months America will enter the war.
Deep within embattled Germany a fateful decision is reached. No expense will be spared. Russia must be disarmed, removed from combat by aggravating her internal disorders until they explode into the chaos of revolution.
Only one man has the power and vision to do it. He must be smuggled out of exile and returned to Russia to plant the fatal seeds of upheaval.
That man is V.I. Lenin. He is...
Deep within embattled Germany a fateful decision is reached. No expense will be spared. Russia must be disarmed, removed from combat by aggravating her internal disorders until they explode into the chaos of revolution.
Only one man has the power and vision to do it. He must be smuggled out of exile and returned to Russia to plant the fatal seeds of upheaval.
That man is V.I. Lenin. He is...
394 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 25, 2018
“THE PETROGRAD CONSIGNMENT” is one of those adventure novels rooted in fact that will have the reader hanging on to the edge of his/her seat.
The time is 1917. Russia, following the failure of the previous year’s Brusilov Offensive, is on the brink of collapse. Bread riots have begun in the capital, Petrograd. Imperial Germany seizes upon the burgeoning chaos in Russia as an opportunity for it to hasten an end to the war on the Eastern Front. As a way of doing that, the German government dispatches one of its agents, Caspar Ehrler, to Switzerland to create some unanimity among the various Russian revolutionary factions there (chief among the revolutionary leaders is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov – aka ‘Lenin’), and to provide them with money and expertise with which to forment a revolution in Russia that will take it out of the war. Ehrler is predisposed to this scheme, for he is a Marxist at heart. What makes the mission even more appealing to Ehrler comes from striking up an intimate acquaintance with one of the young revolutionaries, Sonya Karpinskaya.
Ehrler’s task of trying to reconcile all the divergent, revolutionary factions is proving to be very frustrating. The one person among the factions who is key to ensuring that a revolution can successfully take root in Russia is Lenin. Lenin doesn’t think the conditions are ripe for a revolution. He is openly skeptical. So, to allay Lenin’s suspicions, Ehrler poses as an eager revolutionary courier to win him over. (In truth, Ehrler regards Lenin as a dangerous opportunist. In his view, Lenin “borrows the ideas of others and uses Marx to bolster up his arguments." But in order for his mission to succeed, he needs to have Lenin on board.)
As the historical record shows, Lenin and several of the revolutionaries, with the help of the German government, were put on a sealed train and brought out of Switzerland, passing through Germany, and arriving at the Finland Station in Petrograd in April 1917.
Subsequently, after some fits and starts – including an aborted attempt by Lenin and the Bolsheviks to depose the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky in July 1917 – Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power the following November. Ehrler has been in Russia all the while, trying to re-connect with Sonya who had fallen into the hands of counterrevolutionaries, and trying to ensure Lenin’s safety. I won’t say much more, except to say that Ehrler will have his idealism cruelly dashed to pieces. All in all, “THE PETROGRAD CONSIGNMENT” was great stuff.
The time is 1917. Russia, following the failure of the previous year’s Brusilov Offensive, is on the brink of collapse. Bread riots have begun in the capital, Petrograd. Imperial Germany seizes upon the burgeoning chaos in Russia as an opportunity for it to hasten an end to the war on the Eastern Front. As a way of doing that, the German government dispatches one of its agents, Caspar Ehrler, to Switzerland to create some unanimity among the various Russian revolutionary factions there (chief among the revolutionary leaders is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov – aka ‘Lenin’), and to provide them with money and expertise with which to forment a revolution in Russia that will take it out of the war. Ehrler is predisposed to this scheme, for he is a Marxist at heart. What makes the mission even more appealing to Ehrler comes from striking up an intimate acquaintance with one of the young revolutionaries, Sonya Karpinskaya.
Ehrler’s task of trying to reconcile all the divergent, revolutionary factions is proving to be very frustrating. The one person among the factions who is key to ensuring that a revolution can successfully take root in Russia is Lenin. Lenin doesn’t think the conditions are ripe for a revolution. He is openly skeptical. So, to allay Lenin’s suspicions, Ehrler poses as an eager revolutionary courier to win him over. (In truth, Ehrler regards Lenin as a dangerous opportunist. In his view, Lenin “borrows the ideas of others and uses Marx to bolster up his arguments." But in order for his mission to succeed, he needs to have Lenin on board.)
As the historical record shows, Lenin and several of the revolutionaries, with the help of the German government, were put on a sealed train and brought out of Switzerland, passing through Germany, and arriving at the Finland Station in Petrograd in April 1917.
Subsequently, after some fits and starts – including an aborted attempt by Lenin and the Bolsheviks to depose the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky in July 1917 – Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power the following November. Ehrler has been in Russia all the while, trying to re-connect with Sonya who had fallen into the hands of counterrevolutionaries, and trying to ensure Lenin’s safety. I won’t say much more, except to say that Ehrler will have his idealism cruelly dashed to pieces. All in all, “THE PETROGRAD CONSIGNMENT” was great stuff.
July 8, 2013
A little far fetch but a good read
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews