Conquered City
Conquered City by Victor Serge, published by New York Review of Books on January 11, 2011, is a literary work that delves into the tumultuous period of 1919–1920 in St. Petersburg, following the fall of the czarist regime. This edition spans 224 pages and presents a narrative structured like a detective story, where the new political powers seek to solidify their control amid the chaos of revolution and counterrevolution. The story unfolds in the opulent palaces of the former regime, highlighting the tensions between the ruling Communists and the regrouping White Army.
Readers will find a portrayal of the intense atmosphere of terror that envelops the city, focusing on the actions of the Communists as they confront perceived threats from spies, speculators, and traitors among the populace. The narrative explores the complexities of power, as the new regime grapples with the moral implications of using police, guns, and jails in their quest for stability. Conquered City serves as both a tragedy and a testament to the struggles faced during this pivotal moment in history, reflecting themes of political upheaval and the human cost of revolution.
Official synopsis Publisher
1919–1920: St. Petersburg, city of the czars, has fallen to the Revolution. Camped out in the splendid palaces of the former regime, the city’s new masters seek to cement their control, even as the counterrevolutionary White Army regroups. Conquered City, Victor Serge’s most unrelenting narrative, is structured like a detective story, one in which the new political regime tracks down and eliminates its enemies—the spies, speculators, and traitors hidden among the mass of common people.
Conquered City is about terror: the Red Terror and the White Terror. But mainly about the Red, the Communists who have dared to pick up the weapons of power—police, guns, jails, spies, treachery—in the doomed gamble that by wielding them righteously, they can put an end to the need for terror, perhaps forever. Conquered City is their tragedy and testament.
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