Discovering Imperialism: Social Democracy to World War I

Historical Materialism #33

by Richard B. Day (Translator), Daniel F. Gaido (Translator)

Though primarily associated with the most prominent figures in the history of European Marxism—Lenin, Luxemburg, Hilferding, and Bukharin—the theory of imperialism was actually developed through lively and engaged debates within the Second International from 1898–1916. This volume assembles and translates for the first time the main documents from this debate, and features contributions from Karl Kautsky, Parvus, Otto Bauer, Karl Radek, Anton Pannekoek, and Trotsky, among numerous others.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, World War I

951 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2011

Reviews

[LaMarx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you’ve read Discovering Imperialism, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Eduard Bernstein to death with your bare hands. The revisionist debacle that took place from the Second International onwards is deserving of study by all serious communists. I honestly recommend reading all of the articles within this volume at your own pace. But here’s my top 10 most important to read.
Social Democracy and Imperialism, Bernstein (to hate more accurately)
Imperialist Policy, Beer
Finance Capital, Bauer
German Imperialism and the Working Class, Radek
Our Struggle against Imperialism, Radek
Ways and Means in the Struggle against Imperialism, Radek
The Collapse of the International, Pannekoek
Perspectives and Projects, Luxemburg
The Prehistory of the World War, Pannekoek
Imperialism and the Tasks of the Proletariat, Pannekoek
This book gets five big booms.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!