Rediscovering Lenin

Back Cover Text (From the Promotional Bulletin)

Lenin's What Is To Be Done?, published in 1902. His work was considered for a long time as the founding document of a "new party type". According to some, What Should Be Done? discussed the "vanguard party" model, which forms the basis of Bolshevism in general; According to some, it expressed Lenin's elitist and self-interested attitude towards the working class.

Lars T. Lih's important book, linguistically based on contemporary Russian and German sources, not only undermines both views by relying on hitherto inaccessible contextual information, but also shows how Lenin's arguments were actually based on the optimistic confidence of the workers. It is based on his revolutionary tendencies and reveals Lenin's particular admiration for the German Social Democracy movement. Lars T. Lih emphasizes that Lenin's point of view cannot be understood if the situation of the international Social Democracy movement, the debates in the Russian Social Democracy movement and the revolutionary underground organizations are excluded.

Lars T. Lih's commentary focuses on some key terms in Lenin's text that are difficult to translate, and is accompanied by an original translation by the author of Rediscovering Lenin, What Is To Be Done?

This comprehensive study raises new and shocking questions on issues such as the Marx myth, Bolshevism as a historical force, and Soviet history; Meanwhile, he criticizes stereotypical comments about Lenin and brings Lenin's revolutionary perspective into an actual context.

An important study that sheds light on discussions of both the past and the present...

Dough Type: 2nd Dough

Size: 13.5 x 21.5

First Print Year: 2018

Number of Printings: 1st Edition