Russia Leaves the War

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Bancroft Prize, and the Parkman Prize

From acclaimed diplomat and historian George Kennan, a landmark history of the crucial months in 1917–1918 that forged the pattern of Soviet-American relations

When the Bolsheviks seized power in November 1917, American diplomats in St. Petersburg and Moscow found themselves in a bewildering situation. Should the new regime be recognised? What was its true nature? And was there any way to keep Russia fighting against Germany in the Great War? In vivid detail, George Kennan's classic history tells the gripping story of the Americans' furious, and ultimately failed, efforts to strike a deal to keep the Soviets in the war—and how these events set the pattern of future relations between the two emerging superpowers.

In a new foreword, Kennan biographer Frank Costigliola puts the book in the context of its Cold War publication and Kennan's life.

'Kennan is a poet as well as a philosopher. The Russia of 1917 comes alive under his persuasive touches.' - Harrison E. Salisbury, New York Times

'Reads like a first-rate historical novel...A remarkable performance.' - Bertram D. Wolfe, New York Herald Tribune

'Remarkably lucid and comprehensive. With substantial literary skill, [Kennan] has brought the whole sombre picture marvellously to life.' - The New Yorker

'A work of great scholarship and perception...So tangled a diplomatic story has never been more clearly told.' - The Times (London)

'This is live history, resurrected from the dead past by a man with profound understanding of the practical and theoretical side of world diplomacy.' - Earl H. Voss, Washington Star

'Kennan has produced not only a unique diplomatic history, but an exciting piece of literature in which all the personalities come to life.' - American Scholar

'A book of the first importance...Brilliant.' - Robert Blake, The Spectator