The best introductory text to 1917 is Sheila Fitzpatrick's The Russian Revolution. It is a slim and accessible volume that is one of the basic texts for the Russian Revolution. Alexander Rabinowitch's trilogy on 1917 (Prelude to Revolution, The Bolsheviks Come To Power, and The Bolsheviks in Power) are also excellent examinations of the events of that year. Rabinowitch pioneered a history from below approach to 1917 that was quite controversial when he first hit the scene (and he was attacked both on the right and left), but has become a somewhat orthodox approach to 1917. While both Fitzpatrick and Rabinowitch mostly cover those who took to the streets in 1917, Dominic Lieven's recent book The End of Tsarist Russia (also known as Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia in the UK) focuses on elite and governmental responses to the decline of Romanov power and the stresses of war.

Of course, 1917 is inseparable from the revolutionaries of the period. Lenin is subject to both hagiography and hatchet-jobs, with the further complication that his theory often overshadows his actions. James White's Lenin: The Practice and Theory of Revolution is a slim and valuable examination of how Lenin thought to squeeze his theory into objective realities. Lenin: Conspirator in Exile by Helen Rappaport provides a window into the milieu of revolutionaries in exile and the social networks that sustained Lenin. Stephen Kotkin's Stalin: The Paradoxes of Power is a door-stopper of a book and the first part of trilogy and Kotkin's sections prior to 1917 bring this world to life. Elizabeth White's The Socialist Alternative to Bolshevik Russia: The Socialist Revolutionary Party, 1921–1939 examines one of the Bolsheviks' chief rivalries in 1917.

The entirity of Soviet history is a bit broad for one book outside of textbooks. Ronald Suny's The Soviet Experiment: Russia, The USSR, and the Successor States is one of the better examples of the latter type of book. Geoffrey Hosking's Rulers and Victims: The Russians in the Soviet Union focuses on the complications of being Russian in the Soviet brotherhood of nations. An Economic History of the USSR: 1917-1991 by Alec Nove is a compact but highly informative economic history of the USSR.

Just to add to the brilliant list above, I'd like to suggest two books which I tend to suggest to people as introductions to Russian and Soviet History: Geoffrey Hosking's Russia and the Russians and Robert Service's Penguin History of Modern Russia.

If you already have a handle on Russian history these might be a bit basic for you, and one of u/kieslowskifan's books may prove more rewarding. However if not, both provide an interesting overview which can help contextualise and explain some long term trends without being too tied down focussing on specific themes. Hoskings covers everything from the medieval period to the modern day, while Service begins around the turn of the last century. While as noted such broad survey books are not perfect, they can provide a useful introduction, and I would personally recommend anything written by Hoskings for this.

Orlando Figes' A People's Tragedy also tends to be a very popular book focussing on the revolutionary period, although being somewhat of a weighty tome, and despite the rather contentious personality of its author, it is an interesting read.

​