When I set out, a few days later, to redeem my promise, I found that, in order to make things intelligible, it was absolutely necessary to explain the historical backgrounds of the Russian revolutionary movement, to describe the point of view of various persons and groups with some detail, and to quote quite extensively from the documentary material I had gathered.  Naturally, the limits of a letter were quickly outgrown and I found that my response to my friend’s innocent request approached the length of a small volume.  Even so, it was quite unsatisfactory.  It left many things unexplained and much of my own thought obscure.  I decided then to rewrite the whole thing and make a book of it, thus making available for what I hope will be a large number of readers what I had at first intended only for a dear friend.

I am very conscious of the imperfections of the book as it stands.  It has been written under conditions far from favorable, crowded into a very busy life.  My keenest critics will, I am sure, be less conscious of its defects than I am.  It is, however, an earnest contribution to a very important discussion, and, I venture to hope, with all its demerits, a useful one.  If it aids a single person to a clearer comprehension of the inherent wrongfulness of the Bolshevist philosophy and method, I shall be rewarded.

* * * * *

So here, my dear Will, is the fulfilment of my promise.

APPENDICES

I. AN APPEAL TO THE PROLETARIAT BY THE PETROGRAD WORKMEN’S AND SOLDIERS’ COUNCIL

II.  HOW THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS FOUGHT FOR A CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY—­A
REPORT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST BUREAU

III.  FORMER SOCIALIST PREMIER OF FINLAND ON BOLSHEVISM

APPENDIX I

AN APPEAL TO THE PROLETARIAT BY THE PETROGRAD WORKMEN’S AND SOLDIERS’ COUNCIL

COMRADES: 

Proletarians and Working-people of all Countries: 

We, Russian workers and soldiers, united in the Petrograd Workmen’s and Soldiers’ Delegate Council, send you our warmest greetings and the news of great events.  The democracy of Russia has overthrown the century-old despotism of the Czars and enters your ranks as a rightful member and as a powerful force in the battle for our common liberation.  Our victory is a great victory for the freedom and democracy of the world.  The principal supporter of reaction in the world, the “gendarme of Europe,” no longer exists.  May the earth over his grave become a heavy stone!  Long live liberty, long live the international solidarity of the proletariat and its battle for the final victory!