What was the true impact of the October Revolution of 1917? In this openly revisionist interpretation by a major Soviet and then Russian dissident, Lenin is decidedly made to tumble off his pedestal along with his closest acolytes and faithful comrades. The grab for power in Russia was the work of a tiny minority of what the author calls common criminals who were lucky and cunning enough to pull off a successful coup d'etat. Felshtinsky doesn't hesitate calling the Bolsheviks gangsters who had therefore doomed the communist regime from the start because of the circumstances of their rise to power. About the Author Yuri Felshtinsky received a PhD in history from Rutgers University. His books include The Failure of World Revolution (1991), Blowing Up Russia (with Alexander Litvinenko, 2007) and The Coroporation; Russia and the KGB in the Age of President Putin (with Vladimir Pribylovsky, 2008). He lives near Boston, Massachusetts.