Introduction to Marx, Engels, Marxism

by Vladimir Lenin, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx

Several of Lenin's basic theoretical essays on nationalism and the right of nations to self-determination are brought together in this volume. They analyze the national question specifically and historically in Russia, Europe and Ireland and discuss national oppression, colonialism, great power chauvinism and opportunism in the national question. The book underlines the relationship of nationalism to imperialism and shows how the struggle for democracy and national liberation is integrated with the fight for socialism.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, Theory, History, Essays

108 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 1986

About the author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), statesman and political theorist. After the October Revolution he served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924.

Reviews

[Saeed Aj · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest brief sources in order to know about Marxism and what we should do then.

[Joseph Bierlein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This text offers clarification on some of Lenin's most disputed theories. It is a good read for anyone who has been exposed to Marxism and is interested in investigating the necessary practical activities required of Communists.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lenin’s Introduction presents itself as a primer on Marxism, but don’t be fooled—this is less an intellectual engagement than a Bolshevik cheat sheet. Reading it feels like stumbling onto a CliffNotes version of Marx and Engels, carefully redacted to serve the centralised power fantasies of one party.

Complexities, contradictions, and the humanist tensions within Marx’s thought? Out the window. Ambiguities that Marx deliberately left unresolved, that encouraged debate, are bulldozed into neat little slogans: “Follow this, believe this, march this way.” What should have been a living, breathing philosophy is compressed into a tidy manifesto for bureaucratic efficiency.

The “philosophy” here isn’t a dialogue; it’s a sermon. Lenin doesn’t ask open-ended questions, probe ambiguities, or explore Marxist ideas as tools for understanding the world. No, he issues directives: “Here’s the correct Marxist interpretation — memorise it.” It’s a catechism masquerading as scholarship. Imagine reading Aristotle’s Metaphysics and getting an IKEA instruction manual instead: “Screw A into slot B, now you’re a philosopher.” That’s Lenin’s intellectual tone — prescriptive, didactic, and oddly solemn for a revolutionary theorist.

Lenin’s dedication to defending Marx and Engels comes with a twist: everything outside the Leninist-approved canon is either “bourgeois” or “reactionary”. Kant? Useless. Weber? Too abstract. Anarchists? Criminally naive.

The problem is obvious: productive dialogues that could have enriched Marxist praxis are written off, narrowing Marxism into a rigid cul-de-sac. Lenin scratches the philosophers he likes and tosses the rest into the ideological bin. Revolutionary curiosity? Stifled. Intellectual pluralism? Expelled. It’s less about understanding history and more about policing the correct thought.

And then there’s the teleology on steroids. Historical materialism in Marx was an analytic lens, a heuristic for understanding social change, not a crystal ball predicting socialism’s inevitable arrival. Lenin reads it as a cosmic script: socialism is inevitable because dialectics demand it. History isn’t complex, messy, or contingent — it’s a train timetable, and Lenin is the conductor waving his flag. Marx would have rolled his eyes: reducing dialectics to destiny isn’t critique; it’s dogma masquerading as inevitability.

Engels fares no better. Far from being the independent thinker he was, Engels is flattened into a dutiful sidekick, his insights reduced to mere echoes of Marx. Lenin erases the nuance, the divergences, and the originality of Engels, creating a monolithic duo of intellectual authority. It’s an intellectual lobotomy: Engels’ contributions are sanitised, repackaged, and sold as pure Marxism, convenient for Leninist orthodoxy.

The coup de grâce? Lenin bureaucratises Marxism. The very movement Marx dreamed of — dynamic, contentious, questioning everything existing — is here codified into slogans and catechisms. The revolutionary spirit of critique is replaced with rote learning and Party-approved interpretations.

The irony is delicious: Lenin critiques the ossification of thought elsewhere while producing a text whose primary function is to ossify thought into Party orthodoxy. The ghost of revolutionary spontaneity is exiled.

Bottom line: Lenin’s Introduction to Marx, Engels, Marxism is not an introduction to Marxism. It’s Leninism in Marx and Engels’ costume. A vibrant, contested, endlessly debatable theory is flattened into a monolithic doctrine; rich philosophical engagement is replaced with ideological policing; critique becomes catechism.

Marx’s call for ruthless questioning of everything existing is here twisted into an obedient ritual: only Marx-approved, Lenin-sanctioned thoughts allowed. For a text ostensibly about revolution, it’s ironically conservative — revolutionary rigour is smothered under the weight of Leninist orthodoxy, and Marxism itself becomes a rigid apparatus for legitimising centralized authority.

[Mohamed Habashy · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب يبلغ الكثير من الأهميه لكل شيوعي أو ماركسي أو حتي عامل "بروليتاري" واعي .. يأخذنا فيه لينين في سيره زاتيه عن مؤسسي الماركسيه والإشتراكيه العلميه "ماركس وإنجلس" ونضالهما وتعرضهما للنفي والطرد القسري من بلادهما .. ثم يأخذنا في مقاله / موضوع آخر ألا وهوا الماركسيه وأقسامها والتي تمثل في نفس الوقت مصادرها الثلاث "الفلسفه الماديه و الإقتصاد السياسي ونظرية النضال الطبقي" ويشرحهم لينين بشكل بسيط ثم ينتقل بنا الي أساس الماركسيه ونظرية التطور المتمثله في الديالكتيك. وهوا النظريه المبني عليها النضال الطبقي ونظرية معرفة التطور الإجتماعي للطبقات بل الجماعات الموجوده في كل طبقه.. ثم يتعرض لينين الي مجموعه من مراسلات إنجلس وماركس منهم واليهم ثم منهم الي كوغلمان وفورباخ .. ويتضمن الكتاب علي مقالات أخري للينين يتحدث فيها عن النزعه التحريفيه للماركسيه التي لازمتها منذ نشأتها حتي في وجود مؤسسيها "ماركس وإنجلس" ويرينا طرق النضال ضد هذه الحملات التشويهيه التي يشنها البرجوازيين والليبراللين المستفيدين من الطبقه الحاكمه والذين يعملون علي شق صفوف البروليتاريا.

يريد لينين في مقاله أخري أن يرينا ويطلعنا علي أسباب و أوجه الخلاف في الحركات العماليه العالميه وأن هذه الخلافات قد تنشب نتيجة إختلاف تاكتيك الأنظمه البرجوازيه تجاه الطبقه العامله فهناك اتجاهين للطبقات الحاكمه , الإتجاه الأول هوا إتباع العنف في ردع الطبقه العامله ويؤدي الي انحراف بعض اعضاء البروليتاريا عن الماركسيه واتباعهم الفوضويه (الإشراكيه الفوضويه , البرودونيه,الباكونية) والإتجاه الآخر يتمثل في هوا تقديم بعض التنازلات للطبقه العامله كحق المشاركه السياسيه في المؤسسات التمثيليه لكي تشق صف العمال وتحاول تسريب المفاهيم البرجوازيه والليبراليه في قلب الحركه البروليتاريه.

وبعد ذلك يتم عرض تطوراً للماركسيه عبر التاريخ ومستقبلها و ينبهنا بأن الماركسيه ليست مذهب جامد أو صلب بل من أهم ما عابه أنحلس علي البروليتاريين أو الماركسيين الإنجليز والأمريكيين بأنهم جعلوا من الماركسيه مذهب قويم صلب ومنعزل ويوضح المراحل التي مرت بها الماركسيه ويعرض في أخر الكتاب مصائر مذهب ماركس التاريخيه.

[HushBushReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I bought this book sooner, I've never read a more simple and accurate account of Marx's key insights than this short book. I highly recommend this book to people who know nothing about Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Incredible stuff!

[Molly]

Disclaimer: I haven’t read this specific book. I couldn’t find the *Introduction to Marxism: The Basic Points* logged on Goodreads, so in order to sort of register it, I chose the closest match.

The book I read is a compilation of essays written by The Socialist Party. Upon first skimming the different titles, I didn’t think I’d need to read it believing I was up to date with the theory. However, this really explains in more layman terms the concepts and relates them to the modern world. Whilst the original writing is relevant today, this breaks down elements in more relatable terms.

I obviously can’t rate this properly but I would give the book I’m discussing 5 stars. It’s concise and aids in further reading.

[jakira · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid primer to marxism

[xe01 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably not the best introduction.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clearly written and understandable introduction to Marxism and it’s sources and parts. Probably the best!

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compendio de artículos, discursos y capítulos de libros escritos por Lenin en torno a las figuras de Marx y Engels (aproximadamente la segunda mitad está dedicada a temas de interés dentro del marxismo). Los dos artículos más interesantes son los dos primeros, pues destacan la relevancia histórica, política e ideológica de los dos primeros pensadores marxistas. El resto de textos tienen también cierto interés, pero considero que menos (excepto quizá «Tres fuentes y tres partes integrantes del marxismo» que es un texto esencial en Lenin). Recomendable.

[Sayed Osama · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مهم جداً ، و يعتبر بداية جيدة للقراءة عن الماركسية أو الشيوعية العلمية ، و بغض النظر عن العرض المهم لأفكار ماركس و إنجلس و خاصة إنجلس لأن بمرور الوقت بكتشف قد ايه الراجل ده قراءته مهمة فشخ زيه زي كارل و تروتسكي و روزا لوكسمبورج فيما بعد ، بس كمان لينين يا جماعة ، لينين بديع و واقعي و شعلة نشاط ، أنا فاكر في بداية قرايتي ل لينين و سيرة حياته كنت متخيل ان الراجل ده مش عايش معانا علي أرض الواقع ، بس الحقيقة لينين واقعي اكتر من أي حد فينا و كل أطروحاته مهمة جدا

[danny estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and brief little introduction pamphlet including a number of works Lenin wrote on Marx in the 1890s, breaking down fundamentals of Marxism in a surprisingly understandable way. under 100 pages, an adept reader can finish it easily in a day, even with the theoretical jargon.

[Simão Gomes · Rating 2 out of 5]

É como ler uma declaração nutricional. Apesar disso, tem valor didáctico

[Alejandro Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me lo tenía que haber leído antes. Una obra clave para comprender las bases del marxismo de forma clara y amena.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books for understanding the basic theories of Marxism, including materialism, dialectics, class struggle, and the labor theory of value. It begins with a very brief biography of Karl Marx, which was a nice touch. As usual, Lenin is an excellent writer and possibly sums up the work of Marx and Engles better than they do themselves.