The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution is a 2017 study of the history of theRussian Revolution, the formation of theSoviet Union, and its early history from the days of theNew Economic Policy into the early days ofStalinist Rule by the Russian-born American historianYuri Slezkine. The book consists of "three strains":[1] "The first is a family saga involving numerous named and unnamed residents of theHouse of Government." The second strain is analytical. It looks at the revolution and subsequent Soviet administration through the lens of themillenarian cult and "aims to capture the rise and fall of Bolshevism through a building and its residents, via a study in eschatology – the creation of an apocalyptic cult, its unexpected success, and its equally unexpected failure."[2] "The third strain is literary...Each episode in the Bolshevik Family Saga, and each stage in the history of the Bolshevik prophecy is accompanied by a discussion of the literary works that sought to interpret and mythologize them."[1]
The work includes a brief preface, three books (each separated into two parts), an epilogue, an appendix providing "a partial list of leaseholders", notes, and an index.
The Swamp - A portrait of Moscow prior to the construction ofThe House of Government, before theBolshevik Revolution. "When Will The Real Day Finally Come?" asksNikolai Dobroliubov in an 1860 essay, pondering the proximity of a revolutionary transformation of society. This question—and "The Real Day"—become a motif.
The Preachers - "Most prophets of the Real Day were either Christians or socialists."[3]
The Faith - Slezkine outlines the senses in which it is helpful to consider the Bolshevik Revolution and its subsequent manifestations asmillenarian cult.
The Real Day - Chronicling events from two days after the collapse of the Tsarist State, to theexecution of the Tsarist royal family at the House of Special Purpose.
The Last Battle - Chaos and struggle after the early victories. The attempted assassination ofV. Lenin, problems with thecossacks,de-cossackization etc.
The New City - Having won the war, taken over the state, established stable administrative hierarchies the Bolsheviks reflect and prophecy, but real events deviate from prophecy very quickly as "War Communism"—the war on property, market, money and the division of labor—quickly exhausts itself in the pre-industrial, peasant economy the Bolsheviks become heir to.
The Great Disappointment - New theories of art and literature evolve under theNew Economic Policy, Lenin dies,Mayakovsky commits suicide, "theNEP was a gothic nightmare."
The Party Line - As the world socialist revolution continues not to materialize, the Party re-assesses and its theory evolves.
^abSlezkine, Yuri (2017).The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution (1st ed.). Princeton, NJ & Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press. pp. XII–XIII.
