The House of Government
The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution is a 2017 study of the history of the Russian Revolution, the formation of the Soviet Union, and its early history from the days of the New Economic Policy into the early days of Stalinist Rule by the Russian-born American historian Yuri Slezkine. The book consists of "three strains": "The first is a family saga involving numerous named and unnamed residents of the House of Government." The second strain is analytical. It looks at the revolution and subsequent Soviet administration through the lens of the  millenarian cult and "aims to capture the rise and fall of Bolshevism through a building and its residents, via a study in eschatology – the creation of an apocalyptic cult, its unexpected success, and its equally unexpected failure." "The third strain is literary...Each episode in the Bolshevik Family Saga, and each stage in the history of the Bolshevik prophecy is accompanied by a discussion of the literary works that sought to interpret and mythologize them." Contents. The work includes a brief preface, three books (each separated into two parts), an epilogue, an appendix providing "a partial list of leaseholders", notes , and an index. Reception. The book received critical praise for its epic scope and storytelling from several outlets, including "The New Yorker" and "The Washington Times". "The New York Times" and the "London Review of Books", while concurring on praise for its exploration of the house's inhabitants, questioned some of Slezkine's conclusions, and "The Guardian" criticized the book's interpretation of Bolshevism. "The House of Government" won the George L. Mosse Prize from the American Historical Association.