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Revolution in the Third Rome is a story of conflict between the liberated mind and the oppressive state in one of the darkest times and places in modern history. It examines the experience of Russian intellectuals before and after the creation of the Soviet Union with a specific focus their engagement with the classics. Delving into the work of the poet Osip Mandelstam and the historian Michael Ivanovitch Rostovtzeff among others, the book demonstrates how the history and literature of antiquity inspired Russian authors as they sought to challenge political tyranny in a nation gripped by revolution. With its study of the impact of the classics upon the political philosophies of the tsars as well as both Lenin and Stalin, the book demonstrates how the classics were a battleground between the state and intellectuals in the search for a Russian national identity. This book is one of the first to study the classics in the Russian context, offering a unique perspective on Russian political and intellectual history in a time of national transformation.

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John Riley studied history and the classics at Harvard University, earning the 2009 Landon memorial prize for excellence in the classics and the 2010 Francis H. Burr scholarship as student-athlete of the year. Originally from Lake Forest, Illinois, he now lives in Boston, where he is applying to medical school to become a trauma surgeon.

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