In this second volume of his Lenin trilogy, Robert Service builds on the approach established in the first. He emphasises the extraordinary circumstances in Russia and the world enabling Lenin to come to power in 1917. He also details ways whereby Lenin led a turbulent Bolshevik party and adjusted its policies so as to gain authority in the soviets. Lenin the crafty and pragmatic politican as well as the utopian and merciless class warrior are portrayed.

List of Plates - Notes and Acknowledgements - Foreword to the Second Edition - All or Nothing: 1910-1912 - Storms before the Storm: 1912-1914 - Ad Extirpanda: 1914-1915 - War's Divisions: 1915-1916 - Unsealed Messages: 1916 to April 1917 - There Is Such a Party! April to July 1917 - The Fire Next Time: July to September 1917 - To All the Peoples: September to October 1917 - The View from Petrograd: November to December 1917 - The Obscene Peace: January to March 1918 - Notes - Index