Russia Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921

A Xmas present for myself which amazingly I have finished reading well before next Xmas.  A non trivial task with a 500 page book on a complex subject.

I am a fan of Anthony Beevor's books and have enjoyed them all except perhaps the one on the Spanish Civil War.  I got lost in that book with all the acronyms describing the various parties in the war.  The same could happen with this book, but I had the benefit of knowing more of the names, factions and geography based on other readings and perhaps most of all, having played numerous games on the area and subject, most recently Reds! and Red Star White Eagle.

At times reading this book it was as if  present day fighting in Ukraine was a mere continuation of the conflict that was always simmering and was finally unleashed by the pressures of WW1 on the Russian Empire. 

Exceedingly brutal and inhumane.  

The book's conclusion sums things up perfectly:

"Spiritual values never stood a chance against a fanatical determination to destroy all those of the past, both good and bad."

"All too often the Whites represented the worst examples of humanity. For ruthless inhumanity, however, the Bolsheviks were unbeatable."

I think a lot of that inhumanity was subsequently spread around the world and is still with us today.