Semën Kanatchikov, born in a central Russian village in 1879, was one of the thousands of peasants who made the transition from traditional village life to the life of an urban factory worker in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last years of the nineteenth century. Unlike the others, however, he recorded his personal and political experiences (up to the even of the 1905 Revolution) in an autobiography. First published in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, this memoir gives us the richest and most thoughtful firsthand account we have of life among the urban lower classes in Imperial Russia. We follow this shy but determined peasant youth's painful metamorphosis into a self-educated, skilled patternmaker, his politicization in the factories and workers' circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and his close but troubled relations with members of the liberal and radical intelligentsia. Kanatchikov was an exceptionally sensitive and honest observer, and we learn much from his memoirs about the day-to-day life of villagers and urban workers, including such personal matters as religious beliefs, family tensions, and male-female relationships. We also learn about conditions in the Russian prisons, exile life in the Russian Far North, and the Bolshevik-Menshevik split as seen from the workers' point of view.

"This is a superb book. We are well-launched into a new generation of '60s scholarship, and The Free Speech Movement will be at the center of it. The analysis and personal recollection mix well, arguing persuasively for the never-to-be-underestimated place of contingency in history."--Todd Gitlin, author of "Media Unlimited and The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage

"This powerful book not only will be the classic work on the Free Speech Movement but also will be combed as a basis for hypotheses and new research on the movements of the '60s. It's absolutely thrilling, full of large implications for history, social movements, and character. The book contributed to my self-knowledge (personal, political, and professional) and will do the same for others. It combines humor and a firsthand, I-was-there flavor with provocative analyses. As a serious, original work of scholarship, this gives edited volumes back their good name."--Jesse Lemisch, Professor of History Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York, and author of "The American Revolution Seen from the Bottom Up

"This book gets the Free Speech Movement and its significance exactly right-from the civil rights origins to refusing to idealize the moment at the expense of what came later. And no two better editors could be doing it."--Michael Rogin, author of "Ronald Reagan, The Movie, And Other Episodes in Political Demonology

"As a journalist, I was in Berkeley's Sproul Plaza to witness the mass arrests of the Free Speech Movement demonstrators in December 1964. As a citizen, I've always known that this was one of the pivotal moments in the great political and moral awakening of the1960s. As a reader, I found much to feast on in this splendid and thoughtful collection of essays, about a movement whose effects and inspiration are with us still."--Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

"The Free Speech Movement was a pivotal moment in the evolution of student rights and university responsibilities. These splendid essays memorialize this period and offer competing perspectives on its meaning. Though differing widely in conclusions, collectively and individually they stand testament to the conviction that 'the price of freedom is eternal vigilance' and that 'the critical test of freedom of expression is the right of others to speak out on behalf of what we believe to be wrong.'"--Geoffrey R. Stone, author of "Eternally Vigilant: Freedom of Speech in the Modern Era

"This rich and entertaining set of essays offers remarkable insight into the genesis, development, and consequences of the Free Speech Movement. Written largely by participants and close observers, these essays offer both personal and analytical assessments of the roles of students, faculty, and administrators. Above all, the chapters on Mario Savio demonstrate his unusual capacity for leadership-charismatic without being dogmatic, committed to the cause while retaining a capacity to think and deal openly with dissent. This book should be read by anyone interested in understanding university and national politics in the '60s."--Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl, University of California, Berkeley

"With scrupulous attention to his sources, elegant presentation of narrative detail, and a flair for psychological analysis, Zelnik has managed to tell the story of a small episode in a manner that illuminates the grand issues of imperial Russian history. It is a remarkable achievement."--Laura Engelstein, Princeton University

"Zelnik has allowed the wonderfully textured account of the strike to illuminate some of the most gnarled problems in Russian labor history. . . . A breakthrough work, one that challenges more conventional labor historians to rethink the very nature of the field."--Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

"A tour de force, a magnificent example of Zelnik's capacities for historical reconstruction."--Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist University

Renowned Russian historian Reginald E. ZelnikOs final manuscript is a biography of Anna Pankratova, a woman from Odessa who became a leading labor historian and academic administrator in the Soviet Union from the 1920s to her death in 1957. Drawing upon archival materials once inaccessible to Western scholars, as well as memoirs published since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Zelnik conceptualized his study as one of "constrained dissent," in the sense that Pankratova, a Communist scholar loyal to the Party, nevertheless courageously sought to protect her colleagues, students, and friends from disaster. Portraying Pankratova as both "victim" and "victimizer," Zelnik treats in evocative detail several revealing episodes in her career as "the most powerful woman in the Soviet UnionOs history profession." These episodes include her husbandOs arrest, her own exile, and the ruin of many scholarly colleagues during the Stalinist purges. One particularly interesting part of PankratovaOs life was her experience during World War II in Kazakhstan, in Soviet Central Asia, which led her to champion the Onational rightsO of the Kazakhs. ZelnikOs last monograph marks his first examination of issues of ethnicity and nationalism in the Soviet period, and in the Central Asian context in particular. Five essays that address ZelnikOs scholarship as a labor historian who approached the central question of class formation through his investigation of participantsO personal experience, as well as his teaching and citizenship, accompany the monograph. Contributors include Laura Engelstein, David A. Hollinger, Benjamin Nathans, Yuri Slezkine, and Glennys Young. The volume also encompasses excerpts from two Soviet texts, including PankratovaOs historic 1956 speech on the menace of Stalinist legacies in history and historiography. Professor Reginald E. Zelnik, who died in a tragic accident in May 2004, was one of the most respected and beloved historians of Russia. He taught for decades at University of California, Berkeley and served as a fervent activist in the free speech movement, advocating for student and faculty rights. In tribute to ZelnikOs career at Berkeley and his professional contributions, the volume includes a list of his Ph.D. students at Berkeley, and his curriculum vitae. For more information on the Treadgold Papers visit: http: //www.jsis.washington.edu/ellison/outreach_treadgold.shtml"