Ten Days that Shook the World

What it is

This is a book by the American journalist John Reed, published in 1919, giving a firsthand account of the 1917 October Revolution. Reed followed prominent Bolsheviks closely while reporting from Russia, and his notes were seized by US officials on his return before he wrote the book quickly from memory and surviving materials.

Why it matters

The book offers vivid descriptions of Lenin at the Smolny Institute during the revolution, and Lenin himself wrote a preface endorsing it. It shows how international observers portrayed the revolution and its leader, and how the Soviet government used such accounts to shape the story told abroad. Historian George Kennan later praised its literary power despite disagreeing with Reed's politics.

Look closer

• Why might Lenin have wanted to endorse a foreign journalist's account of the revolution?
• Reed admitted his sympathies were not neutral—how might this affect what he chose to describe?
• What does it mean that his notes were seized and he wrote the book quickly from memory?