From the PREFACE

These letters were actually written at the times indicated by the wife of an American officer temporarily attached to the State Department as an Attaché to our Embassy at Petrograd.

They begin with the arrival in Russia and extend to the rather dramatic escape from that unfortunate and unpleasant sadly upset country, when all foreigners were seeking a safer place, except those Germans who appeared to be under the protection of the ones who are generally called Bolsheviki but who may more properly be termed Anarchists.

The period they cover is one of great interest to poor Russia and consequently to the whole world, of which Russia as she was, formed such a large percentage in area and population.

Much of political significance has necessarily been omitted from the original letters, and more from the copies that were retained and have been used in this volume, but the final proof represents the observations of one with exceptional opportunities to learn at the time what was really going on.

The letters are not biased by any ulterior motives and only show what an observer knew would be of interest to intimate relatives and friends in the United States.

May these letters now serve to interest and enlighten those others who would know what has not before been published!

–P. S. C.