Overview

"Inside the enigma" gives us a view from an unusual angle of the history of Russia between the turn of the century and the beginning of the Second World War. Britain's information about the series of extraordinary events in Russia between 1900 and 1939, and about what might be about to happen next, was largely dependent on the small number of British officials, mainly diplomats but also soldiers, posted in Russia. The discomforts and privations suffered by British officials were matched by their frustration they felt at the impenetrable intrigue of the Tsarist court, which was replaced by a wall of disinformation and suspicion after the Bolshevik seizure of power. Nevertheless, what they saw and reported makes remarkable reading and was an important channel of information about developments of critical significance to the modern world.