All editorial additions to the text of the interviews have been placed in brackets. These include the translation into English of certain Russian terms; the Russian origin of certain words rendered into English in the text; surnames otherwise identified in the text only by proper name and patronymic; and the interjection of a word or a phrase to clarify an incomplete sentence or a misleading statement. Introductory or connecting passages are also in brackets.

In transliterating Russian names we generally adhered to the more precise Library of Congress system, but deliberately allowed for certain exceptions, especially in the text. Thus, Lydia Dan's first name, and Boris Nicolaevsky's last name, have been anglicized both for aesthetic reasons and to conform to their preferences. In the notes, however, these are treated as Russian names and transliterated as Lidia Dan and Boris Nikolaevskii. Only in one case did we use the more familiar anglicized version throughout; namely, in the case of Trotsky.

All the abbreviations in the text are those actually used during the interviews, most notably, SRs for Socialist Revolutionaries and SDs for Social Democrats. In the notes, the abbreviation CC is often used for Central Committee, NSs for the Party of People's Socialists, PSR for the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, and RSDRP for the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party.

Unless otherwise indicated, all pre-1918 dates follow the Julian or “Old Style” calendar, twelve days behind the Gregorian or “Western” calendar in the nineteenth century and thirteen days behind in the twentieth.