Régis Debray

Revolution in the Revolution is Debray's analysis of the Cuban mode of revolution in contrast to the Asian and Russian Revolutions. The Revolution within the Revolution is the shift from a revolution led by a city-based political organisation which controls at a distance the guerrilla arm of the revolution, to a guerrilla-led revolution in which the leaders of the guerrilla group fulfil the function of the political leaders in addition to their military roles. This type of revolution is described as being better suited to the Latin American geography and states where Debray has been around in guerrilla groups, and is typified by the successful leadership of the Cuban revolution.
Much of the book is concerned with the role of guerrilla groups in the revolution, and the organisation of revolutionary politics with the aim of overthrowing repressive states. It is based within the Marxist framework generally, though not without criticism of several modes of communist thinking from Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky that have influenced previous revolutions.
This book will be best appreciated by those who are interested in revolutionary or Marxist thought, recent Latin American history, or political philosophy. It is probably not of much wider general interest due to its fairly specific focus on guerrilla-based communist organisation, however having said that it does have the benefit of being well-written and compact, at 127 pages.… (more)