Pomper succeeds in his goal to expose the most profoundly successful and controversial figures in Russian history with his book. However, it seems as though Pomper is eager to paint these figures in a very neutral light. AS an historian, it is his job of course to look at history as objectively as possible, and treat each historical personality with respect, but Pomper doesn't deal much with the atrocities associated with the Russian Intelligentsia and instead focuses on their ideals and ideas. In this way, Pomper was able to buck the cultural trend that prevailed during the first printing of his book, The Russian Revolutionary Intelligentsia, Second Edition. The common cultural views toward Russian life and history were less than welcoming for many scholars, and Pomper's neutrality certainly helped both academia and the general public to come to terms with the human beings behind the many social and cultural changes that occurred in Russia during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The value of Pomper's The Russian Revolutionary Intelligentsia, Second Edition is easily understated. In a time when people all over the world were looking to credible historians and academic sources for accurate and comprehensive material relative to the Russian Revolution...

It is an extremely accurate look at the philosophies that drove so much of Russian history and those men and women who were to become Soviet heroes and father figures. In terms of time gaps, Pomper really doesn't leave much out. He covers everything from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Though his coverage of ideas is quite comprehensive, the book does little to quell the reader's curiosity about how the outside world was reacting to the decisions being made and actions taking place within Russia during that time frame. History is not an echo chamber, and Pomper's book should have included more outside references and reactions to the events taking place around the time of the Russian Revolution.
Pomper's revised edition of the book The Russian Revolutionary Intelligentsia re-examines the Russian intelligentsia through the lens of post-communist Russian thought and ideals. This helps the reader to understand the historical context of the analysis of the most prominent figures in Russian history and thought. His revisions also help to shed light on the modern Russian historical context and move the reader from 1970's era thinking and writing to modern-day historical analysis.