In 1917 John Reed , a journalist and socialist, witnessed first-hand the 1917 Russian October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks seized power and began forming the Soviet Union. Ten Days that Shook the World is his account of the revolution, including on-the-ground descriptions of the days up to those portentous events.

The book received a mixed reception. Some reviewers found it a powerful account of the events, one of the few available in English. Others noted Reed’s bias as an established Socialist writer. In any case, the book was hugely influential: this edition boasts a preface by Lenin, John Reed was buried in Moscow in a site reserved for Soviet leadership, and some Soviet couples even went so far as to name their children “Johnreed.” In 1999 New York University placed Ten Days that Shook the World 7th in their “Top 100 Works of Journalism” list.