In this detailed analysis of the anti-Bolshevik movement in Siberia during the Russian Revolution and Civil War, N. G. O. Pereira argues that the White counter-revolution failed in Siberia because of the political weakness of the anti-Soviet governments vying for power in the region and their policies toward the Siberian peasantry.

He highlights similarities and differences among the constitutional programs and ideologies, paying particular attention to the Kolchak government as the chief anti-Bolshevik force in the region.

Through his analysis of the conflict, Pereira attempts to determine whether parliamentary democracy stood any real chance under the extraordinary circumstances or whether it was, as the Bolsheviks alleged, merely window-dressing hiding the real agenda of military counter-revolution and restoration of the ancien regime.