Ulyanov – a Homeless Man. Remarks on Helen Rappaport’s Book

Abstract

Helen Rappaport in her book Conspirator: Lenin in exile proposes a new view of Lenin’s lifetime in exile, i.e., of the period 1902–1917, as the most important time in the Russian revolutionist’s life. This approach opens up a place for new interpretations, but also is combined with certain problems. To some extent, Rappaport succeeds in demythologizing Lenin and in showing him as a character whose features and outlook are in the process of being shaped. On the other hand, book contains many formulations that are poorly grounded in sources and sensational plots, which largely has ensured publicity for the book. In addition, Rapport does not give convincing answers to the question of how Lenin’s stay in different European countries influenced the evolution of his outlook. Rappaport’s book is limited in this respect to summarizing subsequent works of the Russian revolutionist, as well as to attempting to interpret them through the prism of his psychological features.