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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 12, 2023
AN EASY-TO-GRASP INTRODUCTION TO THE MAN AND HIS TIMES
This 1978 book opens with the statement, “A revolutionary party as the ORGANIZED expression of collective action… that was Lenin’s strategy and the essence of POLITICAL Marxism… Not one man but millions of people MADE the Russian revolution. Lenin remains the greatest Marxist tactician because he understood this.” (Pg. 10)
It notes, “In August 1887, Lenin enters Kazan University to study law… But Volodya [as Lenin was known] was soon mixed up in a student demonstration, arrested, and expelled from the University, Dec. 5, 1887… Banished from Kazan, Lenin is permitted to join his sister Anna at their mother’s estate … Both are now under police supervision… In the autumn of ’88, he is allowed to re-enter Kazan but not the university. The police consider him ‘an undesirable.’ Lenin frequents a Marxist group .. [In] July ’89 the police round up the Kazan group.” (Pg. 33-35)
It recounts, “Lenin meets other Marxists working in Vilna, Moscow and Kiev. He is soon known as the Starik (the ‘old man’), and in 1895, with Martov [Julius Tsederbaum], he founds the ‘League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class.’” (Pg. 48) “Back again in St. Peterburg, Lenin steps up STRIKE AGITATION in the factories. But the police close in and Lenin is arrested, Dec. 1895.” (Pg. 51) “He exercises, gives the peasants free legal advice…and since he can have books mailed to him, starts to work like a demon… He finishes a massive analysis ‘The development of Capitalism in Russia’ (1899)… under the name V. Ilyin.” (Pg. 53)
“Lenin spells out his ideas on Party organization in Iskra articles and in an important book, ‘What is to Be Done?’ (1902) [This book] is directed mainly against a confused and divided intelligentsia. It’s true, Lenin says, scientific socialism ‘came out of the heads’ of intellectuals like Marx and Engels, but…an organization of full-time professional revolutionaries must ERASE any distinction between workers and intellectuals.” (Pg. 61, 63)
“Trotsky’s idea of PERMANENT REVOLUTION and Lenin’s UNINTERRUPTED REVOLUTION are based on Marx: ‘While the democratic petty bourgeois wish to bring the revolution to a conclusion as quickly as possible… it is our task to make the revolution PERMANENT, until all more or less possessing classes have been displaced from domination, until the proletariat has conquered state power, and the association of the proletarians… has advanced so far that competition among the proletarians … has ceased and that at least the decisive productive forces are concentrated in the hands of the proletarians.” (Pg. 91)
“[In 1915] a conference of 38 anti-war socialists meets at … a Swiss village. Lenin’s theses on ‘revolutionary defeatism’ and civil war gain only left-wing minority support… Lenin’s ‘defeatism’ policy seems ‘hard to swallow’ and was not accepted by the Bolshevik Central Committee…” (Pg. 119) “February 1917: In the Streets, the People Overthrow Tsarism.” (Pg. 122-123)
“Lenin struggles to convince the ‘Old Bolsheviks’… Lenin patiently explains, “The passing of state power from one class to another is the first, the principal, the basic sign of a REVOLUTION, both in the strictly scientific and in the practical political meaning of that term.” (Pg. 134)
“The October 25th Revolution… On the night of the 24th Lenin arrives at Bolshevik headquarters at the Smolny Institute… and at 2 a.m. of the 25th operations begin. ‘We synchronized the seizure of power with the opening of the 2nd Soviet Congress on the 26th. Red Guards occupy all key points---railways, bridges, telegraph, telephone and electricity installations.” (Pg. 144)
“October 27th Lenin issues an appeal on radio calling for an immediate armistice. But in the December peace talks, the Germans demand 215 thousand square kilometers of territory …. And 2,000 gold rubles!” (Pg. 148)
“Some facts about the Bolshevik ‘Seizure of Power’: Anti-Bolshevik propaganda has always claimed that Lenin merely ‘seized power,’ that October was a coup d’état, a conspiracy led by an undemocratic minority, etc. But the facts are that, throughout the summer of 1917 and after, popular support was shifting rapidly towards Bolshevism, and this was expressed democratically in the urban and Soviet elections across Russia.” (Pg. 150)
“Lenin expected that the October revolution would act as a ‘fuse,’ a ‘pilot light’ for revolutions in other, more advanced countries of the world. Russia was the pioneer---but she needed the help of a world socialist revolution to overcome the gigantic difficulties caused by the Civil War.” (Pg. 158)
“The New Economic Policy---which Lenin put forward … [in] 1921. ‘It was the war and the ruin that forced us into ‘War Communism.’ It was not, and could not be, a policy that corresponded to the economic tasks of the proletariat. It was a makeshift. The correct policy of the proletariat exercising its dictatorship in a small-peasant country is to obtain grain in exchange for the manufactured goods the peasant needs. We know that so long as there is no revolution in other countries, only agreement with the peasantry can save the socialist revolution in Russia.” (Pg. 163)
Weakened by the 1918 assassination attempt, overworked, afflicted with constant migraines, Lenin’s health began to decline. In May 1922 he suffers a stroke which leaves him partly paralyzed and unable to speak of write… hen Lenin died, 21 January 1924, the Russian revolution lost its greatest Marxist.” (Pg. 168)
This book is an ‘accessible’ overview of Lenin’s life and ideas, and their historical setting.
This 1978 book opens with the statement, “A revolutionary party as the ORGANIZED expression of collective action… that was Lenin’s strategy and the essence of POLITICAL Marxism… Not one man but millions of people MADE the Russian revolution. Lenin remains the greatest Marxist tactician because he understood this.” (Pg. 10)
It notes, “In August 1887, Lenin enters Kazan University to study law… But Volodya [as Lenin was known] was soon mixed up in a student demonstration, arrested, and expelled from the University, Dec. 5, 1887… Banished from Kazan, Lenin is permitted to join his sister Anna at their mother’s estate … Both are now under police supervision… In the autumn of ’88, he is allowed to re-enter Kazan but not the university. The police consider him ‘an undesirable.’ Lenin frequents a Marxist group .. [In] July ’89 the police round up the Kazan group.” (Pg. 33-35)
It recounts, “Lenin meets other Marxists working in Vilna, Moscow and Kiev. He is soon known as the Starik (the ‘old man’), and in 1895, with Martov [Julius Tsederbaum], he founds the ‘League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class.’” (Pg. 48) “Back again in St. Peterburg, Lenin steps up STRIKE AGITATION in the factories. But the police close in and Lenin is arrested, Dec. 1895.” (Pg. 51) “He exercises, gives the peasants free legal advice…and since he can have books mailed to him, starts to work like a demon… He finishes a massive analysis ‘The development of Capitalism in Russia’ (1899)… under the name V. Ilyin.” (Pg. 53)
“Lenin spells out his ideas on Party organization in Iskra articles and in an important book, ‘What is to Be Done?’ (1902) [This book] is directed mainly against a confused and divided intelligentsia. It’s true, Lenin says, scientific socialism ‘came out of the heads’ of intellectuals like Marx and Engels, but…an organization of full-time professional revolutionaries must ERASE any distinction between workers and intellectuals.” (Pg. 61, 63)
“Trotsky’s idea of PERMANENT REVOLUTION and Lenin’s UNINTERRUPTED REVOLUTION are based on Marx: ‘While the democratic petty bourgeois wish to bring the revolution to a conclusion as quickly as possible… it is our task to make the revolution PERMANENT, until all more or less possessing classes have been displaced from domination, until the proletariat has conquered state power, and the association of the proletarians… has advanced so far that competition among the proletarians … has ceased and that at least the decisive productive forces are concentrated in the hands of the proletarians.” (Pg. 91)
“[In 1915] a conference of 38 anti-war socialists meets at … a Swiss village. Lenin’s theses on ‘revolutionary defeatism’ and civil war gain only left-wing minority support… Lenin’s ‘defeatism’ policy seems ‘hard to swallow’ and was not accepted by the Bolshevik Central Committee…” (Pg. 119) “February 1917: In the Streets, the People Overthrow Tsarism.” (Pg. 122-123)
“Lenin struggles to convince the ‘Old Bolsheviks’… Lenin patiently explains, “The passing of state power from one class to another is the first, the principal, the basic sign of a REVOLUTION, both in the strictly scientific and in the practical political meaning of that term.” (Pg. 134)
“The October 25th Revolution… On the night of the 24th Lenin arrives at Bolshevik headquarters at the Smolny Institute… and at 2 a.m. of the 25th operations begin. ‘We synchronized the seizure of power with the opening of the 2nd Soviet Congress on the 26th. Red Guards occupy all key points---railways, bridges, telegraph, telephone and electricity installations.” (Pg. 144)
“October 27th Lenin issues an appeal on radio calling for an immediate armistice. But in the December peace talks, the Germans demand 215 thousand square kilometers of territory …. And 2,000 gold rubles!” (Pg. 148)
“Some facts about the Bolshevik ‘Seizure of Power’: Anti-Bolshevik propaganda has always claimed that Lenin merely ‘seized power,’ that October was a coup d’état, a conspiracy led by an undemocratic minority, etc. But the facts are that, throughout the summer of 1917 and after, popular support was shifting rapidly towards Bolshevism, and this was expressed democratically in the urban and Soviet elections across Russia.” (Pg. 150)
“Lenin expected that the October revolution would act as a ‘fuse,’ a ‘pilot light’ for revolutions in other, more advanced countries of the world. Russia was the pioneer---but she needed the help of a world socialist revolution to overcome the gigantic difficulties caused by the Civil War.” (Pg. 158)
“The New Economic Policy---which Lenin put forward … [in] 1921. ‘It was the war and the ruin that forced us into ‘War Communism.’ It was not, and could not be, a policy that corresponded to the economic tasks of the proletariat. It was a makeshift. The correct policy of the proletariat exercising its dictatorship in a small-peasant country is to obtain grain in exchange for the manufactured goods the peasant needs. We know that so long as there is no revolution in other countries, only agreement with the peasantry can save the socialist revolution in Russia.” (Pg. 163)
Weakened by the 1918 assassination attempt, overworked, afflicted with constant migraines, Lenin’s health began to decline. In May 1922 he suffers a stroke which leaves him partly paralyzed and unable to speak of write… hen Lenin died, 21 January 1924, the Russian revolution lost its greatest Marxist.” (Pg. 168)
This book is an ‘accessible’ overview of Lenin’s life and ideas, and their historical setting.
September 2, 2026
I read this, but felt like I wasn’t retaining much. I think where a “beginner” is has changed drastically since this was published. I learned exactly zero things about the Russian revolution in my 17 years of school. After finishing the book, before moving on to Trotsky, I bumped into a highly-entertaining animated clip that summarized the Russian Revolution in 30 minutes. That helped me take everything I learned and put it all in order. The clip said zero things about Trotsky, so I was glad I had the Beginners Guide to Trotsky book ready.
So . . . Yes, I recommend the book. But, I think the today’s “beginner” may have better success grasping the overall timeline of events from the goofy animated YouTube version. (Don’t worry, Jim. It wasn’t the animated movie Anastasia. There was no singing. Just funny narration.)
So . . . Yes, I recommend the book. But, I think the today’s “beginner” may have better success grasping the overall timeline of events from the goofy animated YouTube version. (Don’t worry, Jim. It wasn’t the animated movie Anastasia. There was no singing. Just funny narration.)
June 8, 2024
A graphic novel, presenting a cast of hundreds, most only represented by a face and point-of-view or criticism or argument. Surprisingly it builds a quite detailed picture of the history leading up to and just beyond the revolution, and is an engaging read, evoking sympathy toward Lenin's toils. One forms one's own opinion of the validity or relevance or corruption of the multivarious forms of marxist theory - but they lived in different times under the Tsars and had a different political priority.
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May 18, 202415 a
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews