# My Disillusionment in Russia — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for My Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman.

- [Preface to First Volume of American Edition](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/preface-to-first-volume-of-american-edition.md): Emma Goldman explains her motivation for writing this book: to correct the superficial and misleading accounts of the Russian Revolution written by outsiders, and to expose the growing gap between the Bolshevik regime an
- [Preface to Second Volume of American Edition](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/preface-to-second-volume-of-american-edition.md): Emma Goldman explains the circumstances behind the missing chapters of the first edition of her book, defends her critique of Bolshevism against reviewers like Henry Alsberg and H.L. Mencken, and argues that the Bolshevi
- [My Disillusionment in Russia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/my-disillusionment-in-russia.md): The narrator recounts the gradual erosion of their revolutionary idealism upon witnessing the harsh realities of Bolshevik rule, including state oppression, inequality, and the betrayal of revolutionary principles.
- [I: Deportation to Russia](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/i-deportation-to-russia.md): Emma Goldman recounts her deportation from the United States on December 21, 1919, along with 248 other political prisoners aboard the Buford. After a twenty-eight-day journey through Finland, she arrives in revolutionar
- [II: Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/ii-petrograd.md): The narrator arrives in Petrograd in 1920 and finds a city devastated by war, famine, and political repression. Initially skeptical of anarchist accounts of Bolshevik betrayal, she attends a Soviet meeting where she witn
- [III: Disturbing Thoughts](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/iii-disturbing-thoughts.md): The narrator grapples with growing doubts about the Bolshevik regime, seeking guidance from Maxim Gorky. Two meetings with Gorky prove unsatisfactory, leaving the narrator more unsettled. Observations of inequality, priv
- [Moscow: First Impressions](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/iv-moscow-first-impressions.md): The narrator arrives in Moscow and begins to confront the stark contradictions between revolutionary ideals and the harsh realities of Soviet rule. Through conversations with disillusioned visitors, observations of inequ
- [V: Meeting People](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/v-meeting-people.md): The narrator meets with Lenin, Chicherin, and Kropotkin, discussing the plight of imprisoned Anarchists, the nature of the Soviet regime, and the state of the Revolution. Lenin dismisses free speech as a bourgeois notion
- [Preparing for American Deportees](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/vi-preparing-for-american-deportees.md): Emma Goldman is tasked with preparing living quarters in Petrograd for a thousand American deportees expected to arrive. She faces bureaucratic red tape, scarce resources, and the challenge of mobilizing reluctant worker
- [VII: Rest Homes for Workers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/vii-rest-homes-for-workers.md): The narrator describes her involvement in a project to convert aristocratic mansions on Kameniy Ostrov into rest homes for workers, a scheme led by Zorin. She witnesses bureaucratic chaos, corruption, and the cruel displ
- [VIII: The First of May in Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/viii-the-first-of-may-in-petrograd.md): The narrator describes the long-awaited May Day celebration in Petrograd in 1920, observing the subdued and silent mood of the crowds despite the festive decorations and a powerful pageant reenacting the revolutions. The
- [Industrial Militarization](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/ix-industrial-militarization.md): The chapter describes the Ninth Congress of the All-Russian Communist Party in March 1920, which introduced the militarization of labor and one-man management of industry, replacing the collegiate shop system. The narrat
- [X: The British Labour Mission](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/x-the-british-labour-mission.md): The narrator describes the arrival of the British Labour Mission in Petrograd, their lavish treatment by the Soviet government, and the contrast between the luxury afforded to the visitors and the suffering of the Russia
- [XI: A Visit from the Ukraine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xi-a-visit-from-the-ukraine.md): Two Ukrainian Anarchists, recently released from Bolshevik imprisonment, travel illegally to Petrograd to inform Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman about the Makhnovist movement and the Bolshevik suppression of anarchist
- [XII: Beneath the Surface](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xii-beneath-the-surface.md): The narrator confronts the brutal reality of Bolshevik rule, realizing that the Communists justify any means—including lies, torture, and murder—by the end of achieving the Communist State. She recounts specific atrociti
- [XIII: Joining the Museum of the Revolution](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xiii-joining-the-museum-of-the-revolution.md): The narrator joins the Museum of the Revolution, housed in the Winter Palace, and prepares for an expedition to the Ukraine and Caucasus. She interacts with staff, including M. B. Kaplan and a critical colleague, and obs
- [XIV: Petropavlovsk and Schlüsselburg](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xiv-petropavlovsk-and-schl-sselburg.md): The narrator visits the Peter-and-Paul Fortress and Schlüsselburg, reflecting on their childhood dread of these prisons and the revolutionary martyrs who suffered there. Inside Petropavlovsk, they encounter a chilling in
- [XV: The Trade Unions](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xv-the-trade-unions.md): In June 1920, as departure from Petrograd nears, the narrator reflects on the disillusionment with the Russian Revolution, questioning whether the Bolshevik political machine is crushing revolutionary ideals. Traveling t
- [XVI: Maria Spiridonova](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xvi-maria-spiridonova.md): The narrator meets Maria Spiridonova, a Left Socialist Revolutionary leader, who delivers a devastating critique of the Bolshevik regime. She condemns the Brest-Litovsk peace as a betrayal of the revolution, the razverst
- [Another Visit to Peter Kropotkin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xvii-another-visit-to-peter-kropotkin.md): The narrator visits Peter Kropotkin again, this time in summer, and finds him healthier and more spirited. They discuss the failures of the Bolshevik regime, the betrayal of revolutionary ideals, the importance of the ma
- [XVIII: En Route](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xviii-en-route.md): The chapter describes the Museum Expedition's journey from Moscow, including encounters with a Tolstoyan intellectual in Kursk who discusses discrimination against independent initiatives and the intelligentsia, and a vi
- [XIX: In Kharkov](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xix-in-kharkov.md): The narrator arrives in Kharkov, meets anarchist friends from America, and explores the city's educational system and industrial conditions. Encounters bureaucratic inefficiency, deception by Communist officials, and the
- [XX: Poltava](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xx-poltava.md): The narrator visits Poltava, meeting Korolenko and his family, learning about the Save-the-Children Society's struggles under Bolshevik rule, and hearing accounts of the Cheka's brutality, the suppression of Ukrainian se
- [Kiev](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxi-kiev.md): In Kiev, the narrator visits a hospital for crippled children and reflects on the Bolsheviks' antagonism toward the intelligentsia. She meets Jewish intellectuals who debate the Bolshevik regime's impact on Jews, and a R
- [XXII: Odessa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxii-odessa.md): The narrator describes the arduous journey from Kiev to Odessa, noting the stark contrast in food prices and the desperate poverty of the local population. Upon arrival in Odessa, the city is in darkness after a fire des
- [XXIII: Returning to Moscow](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxiii-returning-to-moscow.md): The narrator recounts a difficult journey to a poor village near Zhmerenka to procure provisions, encountering disillusioned intellectuals and a young Communist teacher who criticizes local abuses. Returning to Moscow, t
- [Back in Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxiv-back-in-petrograd.md): The narrator returns to Petrograd after the museum expedition, grappling with the realization that the Bolsheviks are destroying the revolution. She attends Jack Reed's funeral, where Alexandra Kollontai's speech resonat
- [XXV: Archangel and Return](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxv-archangel-and-return.md): The expedition, now reduced to three members including Alexander Berkman and the narrator, travels to Archangel via Moscow, Vologda, and Yaroslavl to collect historical materials for the Museum of the Revolution. In Arch
- [Death and Funeral of Peter Kropotkin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxvi-death-and-funeral-of-peter-kropotkin.md): The narrator recounts the final illness and death of Peter Kropotkin in February 1921, her delayed arrival, and the subsequent funeral arrangements. The chapter details Kropotkin's last years under Bolshevik rule—his iso
- [XXVII: Kronstadt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxvii-kronstadt.md): The chapter details the Kronstadt uprising of March 1921, in which sailors and workers protested Bolshevik policies. The author describes the brutal suppression by Trotsky and Zinoviev, the futile attempts by anarchists 
- [XXVIII: Persecution of Anarchists](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxviii-persecution-of-anarchists.md): The chapter details the systematic persecution of anarchists by the Bolshevik regime despite their significant contributions to the revolution. It describes the arrest, torture, and execution of prominent anarchists like
- [XXIX: Travelling Salesmen of the Revolution](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxix-travelling-salesmen-of-the-revolution.md): The chapter describes the preparations for the Third Congress of the Third International and the First Congress of the Red Trade Union International in Moscow in July 1921. It categorizes foreign visitors into three grou
- [Education and Culture](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxx-education-and-culture.md): The chapter critiques Bolshevik claims of educational and cultural achievement, arguing that while schools and theaters were expanded, education was stifled by Communist dogma, censorship, and the suppression of critical
- [XXXI: Exploiting the Famine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxi-exploiting-the-famine.md): The chapter details the Soviet government's cynical manipulation of the 1921 famine relief efforts, favoring conservative Cadets over left-wing revolutionaries for propaganda purposes, then suppressing the Citizens' Comm
- [XXXII: The Socialist Republic Resorts to Deportation](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxii-the-socialist-republic-resorts-to-deportation.md): The chapter details the Bolshevik government's betrayal of revolutionary ideals, exemplified by the return of Tsarist General Slastchev with military honors while true revolutionaries like Volin, Maximoff, Mratchny, and 
- [Afterword](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxiii-afterword.md): In this concluding chapter, Emma Goldman reflects on the fundamental failure of the Russian Revolution, arguing that the Bolsheviks merely replaced one authoritarian regime with another, betraying the true revolutionary 
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/i.md): The narrator argues that the Russian Revolution's success depended on mass psychology and popular initiative rather than industrial development as per Marxian theory. They critique the Bolsheviks for suppressing popular 
- [The Betrayal of the Revolution](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/ii.md): This chapter critiques the Bolshevik consolidation of power, arguing that the Communist Party eliminated rival revolutionary groups, subordinated independent organizations like the Soviets, trade unions, and cooperatives
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/iii.md): Goldman analyzes the fundamental conflict between the Bolshevik State and the Russian Revolution, arguing that the authoritarian, centralized methods of the Communist Party stifled the libertarian and liberating aspirati
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/iv.md): The narrator argues that the Russian Revolution failed not only because of Bolshevism or Marxism, but because of the fundamental misconception that revolution is merely a violent change of political power and institution
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/endnotes.md): This chapter contains the endnotes for the book, providing translations and explanations of foreign terms, historical references, and contextual clarifications for terms used throughout the narrative.

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