Overview

The gripping untold story of a terrorist leader whose death would catapult his brother -- Lenin -- to revolution. In 1886, Alexander Ulyanov, a brilliant biology student, joined a small group of students at St. Petersburg University to plot the assassination of Russia's tsar. Known as ""Second First March"" for the date of their action, this group failed disastrously in their mission, and its leaders, Alexander included, were executed. History has largely forgotten Alexander, but for the most important consequence of his execution: his younger brother, Vladimir, went on to lead the October Revolution of 1917 and head the new Soviet government under his revolutionary pseudonym ""Lenin."" Probing the Ulyanov family archives, historian Philip Pomper uncovers Alexander's transformation from ascetic student to terrorist, and the impact his fate had on Lenin. Vividly portraying the psychological dynamics of a family that would change history, Lenin's Brother is a perspective-changing glimpse into Lenin's formative years -- and his subsequent behavior as a revolutionary.

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9780393070798

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Reviews

""A little-known episode from the Russian past illuminates some of its most significant events... An evenhanded, complex, fascinating historical analysis."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""[A] richly contextualized and highly readable biography... This work deserves a wide readership, from serious students and scholars of revolutionary Russia to enthusiasts of biography or psychohistory."" -- Library Journal

A little-known episode from the Russian past illuminates some of its most significant events.... An evenhanded, complex, fascinating historical analysis.

Author Information

Philip Pomper is the William F. Armstrong Professor of History at Wesleyan University. He has written and edited nine books, including The Russian Intelligentsia. He lives in Middletown, Connecticut.

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