First published in Spain in 1924, Angel Pestaña’s journal recounting his experiences in Russia in the summer of 1920 as the delegate sent by the Spanish anarchosyndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (the CNT) to the Second Congress of the Third International, which he represents as “an objective accounting”, features encounters with Victor Serge, Peter Kropotkin, Lenin, Zinoviev, Lozovsky and Tomsky; while critical of the “mistakes” of the Bolsheviks, Pestaña ultimately absolves them of the greatest share of responsibility for the suffering of the Russian people, which he attributes to the blockade and civil war imposed and underwritten by the Western Democracies.
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Thanks for adding this. It looks really interesting.
Yeah, thanks very much for posting it looks great! And do I assume correctly that you translated this as well? If so that's amazing!
I am working through it now trying to tidy up the book ordering…
Yes, I translated this book. It was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. Pestana's journal is a useful complement to Berkman's and Goldman's accounts. And thanks so much for repairing the format issues.
http://libcom.org/history/part-2-chapter-10-seventy-days-russia-what-i-saw-angel-pesta%C3%B1
This needs to be moved over to Part 2, which currently has no content.
Bump, because this is finally formatted and laid out properly!
i'm in the middle of reading this fascinating account. did he ever write what he mentions at the end:
?