Hey there r/AskHistorians, I am currently preparing a presentation/lecture on the Russian Revolution and am looking for general literature recommendations. Help would be greatly appreciated!
More specifically I am thinking about the "History of the Russian Revolution" by Leon Trotsky. How would you rate this work in terms of neutrality, I am cautious because he was obviously not only one of the main participants but also heavily invested in one side of the conflict. But his perspective would of course be very interesting to take a look at, although not "I am going to read 1000 pages interesting :D".
People’s Tragedy by Figes is considered one of the better ones, I took issue with some of his editorials but it’s not a bad general work. I’d also throw in Gellately’s Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler which has quite a lot of information on the early Bolshevik regime and repressions during the civil war. There’s a few smaller papers I might be able to just send you tomorrow morning as well. Hope this helps.