Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- 1 Introduction: A Forgotten Revolutionary -- 2 Background, Youth, and Early Union Activities: 1880–1913 -- 3 Opposition to the Burgfrieden: 1914–18 -- 4 The Revolutionary Shop Stewards and Political Mass Strikes: 1916–18 -- 5 The German Revolution in Berlin: 1918 -- 6 Chairman of the Berlin Executive Council: 1918–19 -- 7 Richard Müller and the Council Movement: 1918–19 -- 8 From Council Movement to Works Councils: 1919–20 -- 9 From Council Socialism to Party Communism and Beyond: 1920–24 -- 10 Richard Müller as Historian of the German Revolution: 1923–25 -- 11 Footnotes and Suppression – Richard Müller’s Impact on Historiography -- 12 Break with Politics, Withdrawal into Private Life: 1925–43 -- 13 Conclusion: The Darkness of History -- Bibliography -- Index.

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Richard Müller, a leading figure of the German Revolution in 1918, is unknown today. As the operator and unionist who represented Berlin’s metalworkers, he was main organiser of the ‘Revolutionary Stewards’, a clandestine network that organised a series of mass strikes between 1916 and 1918. With strong support in the factories, the Revolutionary Stewards were the driving force of the Revolution. By telling Müller's story, this study gives a very different account of the revolutionary birth of the Weimar Republic. Using new archival sources and abandoning the traditional focus on the history of political parties, Ralf Hoffrogge zooms in on working class politics on the shop floor and its contribution to social change. First published in German by Karl Dietz Verlag as Richard Müller - Der Mann hinter der November Revolution , Berlin, 2008, this english edition was completerly revised for the english speaking audience and contains new sources and recent literature.