What Was Bolshevism?

Historical Materialism #298

by Lars T. Lih

How did the Bolsheviks see themselves? What grand narrative gave meaning to their revolutionary aspirations? The leading Western expert on Bolshevism, Lars T. Lih, answers these questions in the first-ever study of the Bolshevik outlook from Lenin to perestroika. Sharply focused case studies allow individual leaders - Lenin, Stalin, Bukharin, Trotsky, Zinoviev - to come alive and speak in their own voices, with surprising results that challenge conventional narratives left and right. What Was Bolshevism? uses novels, plays, literary criticism, photographs, statues, poetry, history textbooks, songs, and film to paint an indispensable self-portrait of Soviet civilization.

Genres: History, Soviet Union, Politics, Nonfiction

582 pages, Paperback

Published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lars Lih’s best work comes from his wide-ranging knowledge of writings from this period and his attention to the actual meaning of Russian terms - that also, as this book made clear, can produce his weakest, wherein he ignores everything but a select number of texts and their vocab.