Contents

List of Illustrations

Note on Transliteration and Calendars

Acknowledgements

Frontispiece

Introduction

1    The little Russian island: the first castaways

2    ‘Lirochka’ and Lenin – the spark that lit the flame?

3    1902–1903: Iskra and shaping the Party

4    1905: a congress of conspirators

5    The London Congress of 1907 and the triumph of Lenin

6    Two last visits: 1908 and 1911

Postscript Apollinariya’s story

Appendix

Select Bibliography

Notes

Index