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Vladimir Il'ich Lenin (1870–1924)

Author of State and Revolution

1,117+ Works 12,622 Members 165 Reviews 21 Favorited

About the Author

Creator of the former Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (family name Ulianov) was born on April 10, 1870 in Simbirsk (later Ulianovsk), Russia, the son of a schools inspector. Lenin received upper class education and obtained a law degree in 1891, but he was moved to oppose the czarist Russian show more government, partly due to the execution of his brother, Alexander, who had participated in a plot to assassinate the Russian emperor. For taking part in revolutionary activities, Lenin was eventually imprisoned, publishing his work, The Development of Capitalism in Russia, from prison in 1899. Three years later, his pamphlet "What Is to Be Done" became the model for Communist philosophy. Lenin helped the Bolshevist movement that overthrew the czarist government and brought an end to Russia's war against Germany. As head of the new government, he put land in the hands of the peasants and brought industry under government control. An assassination attempt in 1918 wounded him, and two strokes in 1922 forced him to severely curtail government duty. He retreated to his country home in Gorki, where he died on January 21, 1924. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Image credit: George Grantham Bain Collection,
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ggbain-34971

Series

Works by Vladimir Il'ich Lenin

State and Revolution (1917) 1,862 copies, 26 reviews
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) — Author — 1,371 copies, 15 reviews
The Civil War in France: The Paris Commune (1871) 558 copies, 5 reviews
Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder (1920) 534 copies, 10 reviews
Materialism and Empirio-Criticism (1908) 233 copies, 1 review
The Lenin Anthology (1975) 214 copies
Lenin: Selected Works in Three Volumes (1967) 108 copies, 2 reviews
On the Paris Commune (1971) 106 copies, 1 review
Collected Works (2004) 89 copies
The Essential Left (1960) 78 copies
Karl Marx (1972) 76 copies
On Literature and Art (1970) 69 copies
On Trade Unions (2000) 61 copies, 1 review
On Religion (1976) 60 copies
The April Theses (1917) 50 copies
Against Revisionism (1975) 48 copies
Collected Works, Volume 1 (1987) 48 copies, 1 review
Lenin on war and peace (1966) 45 copies
The State (1919) 43 copies
Socialism and War (1972) 42 copies
Kronstadt (1979) 42 copies
Collected Works, Volume 2 (1987) 38 copies, 2 reviews
On Marx and Engels (1985) 34 copies
On Peaceful Coexistence (1977) 30 copies
On Youth (1977) 30 copies, 1 review
The teachings of Karl Marx (1964) 27 copies, 1 review
Collected Works, Volume 4 (2023) 27 copies, 1 review
A Letter to American Workingmen (2010) 27 copies, 1 review
Can the Bolsheviks retain state power? (1997) 25 copies, 1 review
Against Imperialist War (1966) 25 copies, 1 review
Imperialism and the Split in Socialism (1975) 25 copies, 1 review
On the United States of America (1970) 23 copies, 1 review
Collected Works Volume 27 (1965) 22 copies, 1 review
Letters from afar (1938) 21 copies, 1 review
Collected works. 25, June-September 1917 (1964) 20 copies, 1 review
Collected Works, Volume 20 (1929) 20 copies, 1 review
On the Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1976) — Author — 19 copies
War and the workers (1940) 17 copies
On Britain (1941) 16 copies
Collected Works--Volume 9 (1987) 15 copies
The Young Generation (1940) 14 copies
The revolution of 1905 (1968) 14 copies
Collected works. 14, 1908 (1972) 14 copies, 1 review
Lenin, Obras Escogidas En Doce Tomos (1975) 14 copies, 1 review
On Scientific Communism (1976) 14 copies
Against liquidationism (1973) 14 copies
V. I. Lenin (1976) 11 copies
Articles on Tolstoy 11 copies, 1 review
What is Soviet Power? (1978) 11 copies
Ten Classics of Marxism (1948) 10 copies
Valda verk. 1 (1974) 9 copies
Ausgewählte Werke (1987) 9 copies
Marxism and Revisionism (1974) 9 copies
Letters on tactics (2002) 9 copies
On Cooperation 9 copies
The Letters of Lenin (1937) 8 copies
On the Eve of October (1938) 8 copies
Economic Writings (1989) 8 copies
On Just and Unjust Wars (1984) 8 copies
Valda verk. 2 (1974) 7 copies
Opere scelte (1965) 7 copies
The Russian Revolution (1938) 6 copies
Socialism and religion (1960) 6 copies
Lenin on the Soviet State Apparatus (1975) 6 copies, 1 review
Interviews Given to Foreign Correspondents (1970) — Interviewee — 6 copies, 1 review
Valda verk. 3 (1975) 6 copies
Revolutionary Adventurism (1978) 6 copies
Democracy and revolution (2000) 6 copies
On the Intelligentsia (1984) 6 copies
On Organization (1996) 5 copies
On socialist democracy (1969) 5 copies
Lenin and Stalin on youth (1977) 5 copies
Obras completas (1974) 5 copies
Lenin and Books (2003) 5 copies
Revolution!: Sayings of Vladimir Lenin (2017) 4 copies, 1 review
Selected Works [unknown editions] (1934) 4 copies, 1 review
Lenin and Britain (1949) 4 copies
Über Kultur, Ästhetik, Literatur (1973) — Author — 4 copies
Marxism & nationalism (2002) 4 copies
Lenin összes művei 21 3 copies, 1 review
Marxism and Insurrection (1980) 3 copies
Women and society (1938) 3 copies
En torno a la dialéctica (1996) 3 copies, 1 review
May Day 3 copies
Obras escogidas 3 copies
Tolstoy And His Time (1952) 2 copies
Lenin om Marx (1970) 2 copies
The socialist revolution (1979) 2 copies
Su Trotskij 2 copies
Lenin on Ireland (1974) 2 copies
Karol Marks 1 copy
Mektuplar (2018) 1 copy
Obras completas, XXI (1977) 1 copy
Carlo Marx 1 copy
Devrime Dogru (2018) 1 copy
Obras completas IX (1976) 1 copy
Obras completas XXXVI (1978) 1 copy
Obras completas XXXVII (1978) 1 copy
14: 1908 1 copy
Sur l'économie (1978) 1 copy
1: 1893-1894 1 copy
Que Faire? 1 copy
Opere scelte 1 copy
A pártról (1983) 1 copy
On Organization (1972) 1 copy
TOLSTOI 1 copy
Lenin Reader 1 copy
Lenine 1 copy
Marxbaad 1 copy
lenin on Youth (1970) 1 copy
Articles (1923) (1952) 1 copy
Lenin Werke 1 copy
Om strejker 1 copy
Om partiet 1 copy
Lenin Collected Works Vol 3 1 copy, 1 review
Lenin Collected Works Vol 8 1 copy, 1 review
Lenin reader 1 copy
Lenin's Last Works (2014) 1 copy
Lenin Collected Works Vol 9 1 copy, 1 review
Opere 1 copy
Le Opere 1 copy
Opere scelte 1 copy
Tesis de abril (2024) 1 copy
Om krigen 1 copy
Rok 1917 1 copy
Acerca del estado (1975) 1 copy
LÊNIN ANTICOLONIAL (2024) 1 copy
Biographie (1976) 1 copy
Vom Aufstieg 1 copy
W. I. Lenin 1 copy
Lenin Werke, Band 5 (1955) 1 copy
Werke 1 copy
Lenin to go (2016) 1 copy

Associated Works

Ten Days that Shook the World (1919) — Introduction, some editions — 2,849 copies, 44 reviews
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) — Introduction, some editions — 1,773 copies, 17 reviews
Social and Political Philosophy: Readings From Plato to Gandhi (1963) — Contributor — 273 copies, 1 review
Rosa Luxemburg Speaks (1970) — Contributor — 137 copies
The Woman Question (1951) — Author — 80 copies
Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? in Context (2005) — Contributor — 70 copies
Reader in Marxist Philosophy (1963) — Contributor — 69 copies, 1 review
Selected correspondence of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1975) — Contributor, some editions — 65 copies
The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Protest (1998) — Contributor — 37 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich
Other names
Ulyanov, Vladimir Ilyich
Birthdate
1870-04-22
Date of death
1924-01-21
Gender
male
Education
Kazan State University (1887 | Law | expelled)
University of Saint Petersburg (1892 | Law)
Occupations
Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union (1922-1924)
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic (1917-1924)
Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1917-1917)
Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1919-1924)
Organizations
Bolshevik Party
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Relationships
Krupskaya, Nadezhda Konstantinovna (spouse)
Short biography
Lenin was a communist theorist and revolutionary who oversaw a working class victory during the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union. He was one of the most important authors in the theory and history of Marxism-Leninism, and his writings have been used by worker's movements in every country.

Lenin's theory is remembered for his introduction of the concept of the Vanguard Party and for the application of Marxism onto modern imperialism, which had emerged after Marx's death.
Nationality
Russia
Birthplace
Ulyanovsk, Russia
Places of residence
Simbirsk, Russian Empire (birth)
Place of death
Gorki Leninskiye, Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union
Burial location
The Lenin Mausoleum, Red Square, Moscow, Russia
Map Location
Russia

Members

Reviews

184 reviews
Cai de paraquedas nesse livro, e posso dizer que é uma boa leitura, em que o autor convincentemente conceitua imperialismo como o estágio monopolista do capitalismo em que o capital financeiro e as operações de financeirização passam a dominar o cenário mundial. Assim, através da livre competição chega-se nos anti-mercados do meio do século XX (os cartéis, as fusões, a influência generalizada do financeiro), caracterizados pela enorme concentração de renda e capital bancário show more dos grupos importantes, com a conjunta divisão do mundo entre os que tem colônias e os que são colônias. Cheio de dados e citações de economistas não-marxistas, há aqui o trabalho de explicitar o que foi escondido, esfumaçado e omitido "ingenuamente" nas descrições do desenvolvimento capitalista. Há socialização da produçã, similar à da própria Rússia, como Lenin pontua, mas sem distribuição nenhuma, e a oligarquia financeira passa a ter um poder enorme de ingerência; a exportação passa a ser tipicamente de capital e não de produtos, fato que o colonialismo prepara. O que é importante é a tendência geral do sistema de enredar tudo isso, ao mesmo tempo que permite a continuidade da exploração, no aprofundamento da desigualdade social e nas relações entre oligopólios que operam acordos mais que ações de competição. Que isso não resulte num monopólio mundial à pax romana e que o bem de todos via planejamento total não seja alcançado são duas coisas que hoje afirmamos, mas que Lenin já afirmava, talvez muito precocemente, nos anos 10, mais de um século atrás. show less
A series of sound-bite quotes sandwiched between reproductions of modernist Russian artists' paintings, and revolutionary and Soviet propaganda posters. It's a nice-looking book, and a handy source of t-shirt slogans, but shorn of context the naïve reader (which includes me) is at the mercy of the editors of the Bodleian Library as to just how representative this selection is of Lenin's thought.

That stated, I find myself vehemently agreeing with Lenin, whilst vehemently disagreeing with show more Lenin. I seem to be with Lenin as to the nature of oppression of the masses by millionaire (now billionaire) capitalists, whilst parting ways over his solution of violence and terrorism. I'm afraid I'm one of those leftist pacifists he seems to have disapproved of, which, I think, means he'd have considered me a capitalist lacky. But, perhaps I'm reading too much into what are essentially a collection of communist aphorisms. I think I need to read something a bit deeper to get a better sense of Lenin's philosophy. show less
½
Penguin Great Ideas editions are so convenient to carry around when you know there will be a waiting period. I saved this one for just such a situation. Writing in 1916, Lenin builds upon Marx to propose a theory of imperialism as the most recent (at the time) stage of capitalism. The interplay between capitalism and colonialist imperialism is a lively topic in the context of climate change these days, considered in [b:The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis|57331880|The Nutmeg's show more Curse Parables for a Planet in Crisis|Amitav Ghosh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623551679l/57331880._SX50_.jpg|89724924] by Amitav Ghosh and [b:White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|56708410|White Skin, Black Fuel On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623412638l/56708410._SY75_.jpg|88659555] by Andreas Malm & the Zetkin Collective for example. Lenin considers the key characteristic to be consolidation of massive monopolies, which capture primary commodities, are facilitated by the financial speculation of vast banks, and follow the shape of colonial empires. He notes that imperialism existed before capitalism, and indeed different forms of imperialism coexisted with earlier forms of capitalism. What he describes is specific: 'the colonial policy of finance capital'.
Lenin is at pains to point out that this reduction in competition leads to greater labour exploitation and does not reduce the instability and tendency to crisis in capitalism; indeed the opposite. As the First and Second World Wars demonstrated, imperialist and economic rivalries can encourage catastrophic conflicts.

[b:Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism|179609|Imperialism The Highest Stage of Capitalism|Vladimir Lenin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431981127l/179609._SY75_.jpg|173526] is both of historical interest and continued relevance. It describes globalisation, albeit not by that name, and the increasing consolidation of the banking industry into monopolies that are heavily interdependent with big corporations and governments. That certainly hasn't changed and led to the 2007/8 financial crisis. Moreover, the independence of former colonies has not freed them from financial exploitation by rich countries, often their former colonisers. This certainly has contemporary resonance:

But if capitalism did these things it would not be capitalism; for uneven development and wretched conditions of the masses are fundamental and inevitable conditions and premises of this mode of production. As long as capitalism remains what it is, surplus capital will never be utilised for the purpose of raising the standard of living of the masses in a given country, for this would mean a decline in profits for the capitalists; it will be used for the purpose of increasing those profits by exporting the capital abroad to the backward countries. In these backward [now known by euphemisms like 'less developed' or 'developing'] countries profits are unusually high, for capital is scarce, the price of land is relatively low, wages are low, raw materials are cheap.


Lenin foresaw that, given the instability of globalised capitalism, the economically dominant counties would change over time. He already saw Britain as in decline and of course China has become a huge economic power in the past 40 years. The monopolistic and parasitic structure of the global economy that he describes is still useful, although capitalism has taken destructive new turns over the subsequent century. The detailed and ill-tempered refutation of Kautsky's alternative definition of imperialism has less relevance, other than historical. Lenin ends by acknowledging the difficulty of countering imperialist capitalism, due to 'opportunism' i.e. worker solidarity being undermined by incorrect theories, political policies that create a minority of privileged workers, nationalism, etc. I found [b:Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism|179609|Imperialism The Highest Stage of Capitalism|Vladimir Lenin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431981127l/179609._SY75_.jpg|173526] a quick and interesting read, one notable for describing economic phenomena that were freshly redicovered and critiqued in the nineties and noughties. RIP V.I. Lenin, you would have loved analysing platform enshittification as a consequence of monopolistic surveillance capitalism.
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Many people dismiss Lenin, and Marxism in general, because they are usually associated with the bureaucratic tyranny of the Stalinist regimes of Russia, Eastern Europe, China etc. But these regimes had/have nothing to do with genuine Marxism, as anyone who reads this book will see. The so-called “communist” states were actually state capitalist systems controlled by a ruling class of bureaucrats who betrayed the democratic aims of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Lenin follows Marx and Engels show more in showing that the existence of the state is a result of the existence of class exploitation and class conflict in society. (In pre-class societies, the state did not exist.) As Marx said, “...the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another...”

This is obvious in the case of ancient Roman slave society or medieval feudalism, but it is less obvious in modern capitalist societies, because capitalists usually hide their class rule behind a veneer of “democracy”. But as Lenin says in this book:

“Bourgeois democracy, although a great historical advance in comparison with medievalism, always remains, and under capitalism is bound to remain, restricted, truncated, false and hypocritical, a paradise for the rich, and a snare and deception for the exploited...”

In modern capitalist “democracies” the electorate and parliaments do not have real power. The ruling class capitalists can use their economic power to force governments into line; they control the media and the top levels of the civil service; and if all else fails they can resort to force, through their control of the police and armed forces.

Lenin agreed with Marx’s view that a revolution was necessary in order to achieve socialism for two reasons: firstly, because the ruling class would not give up power peacefully; and secondly, because it was by going through the experience of class struggle that the working class’s ideas would change on a mass scale and the majority would be won over to socialist ideas and become “fitted to found society anew.”

Lenin did not want to seize power in a coup. He wanted to win over the majority of the exploited and for THEM to take power. When Marx and Lenin talked about the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, they did not mean that Marxists would rule OVER the working class, they meant rule BY the working class. This workers’ state would then gradually be replaced by a classless society in which the state would “wither away”.

Marx’s model for a democratic workers’ state was the short-lived Paris Commune, where all officials were elected, subject to recall at any time, and paid only an average worker’s wage; and where the army and police were replaced by a workers’ militia. Lenin’s idea was that the soviets (workers’ councils) would also follow this highly democratic model. Bourgeois “democracy” should be replaced by something much MORE democratic. John Reed's book "Ten Days That Shook The World", for example, shows how democratic the soviets were in their early days.

The February Revolution of 1917 had got rid of the Tsar, but it brought to power the Provisional Government which continued to take part in the bloodbath of World War One. Lenin argued for a new revolution, which eventually took place in October.

October would only be a "coup" if the Bolsheviks took power without majority support. In fact they only took power when they had won a majority on the soviets, with the previous majority of SRs and Mensheviks having been voted out. Even the Menshevik Martov admitted that the workers were solidly behind the Bolsheviks by October.

Lenin’s idea was that the Bolshevik party should compete with other parties on the soviets. The fact that the soviets later ended up as being a one-party system was a sign of the FAILURE of the revolution: it was not what Lenin had intended.

Lenin expected the Russian Revolution to spark off revolutions in other countries. (Indeed there was a failed revolution in Germany.) But the isolation of the Russian Revolution, the horrors of the Civil War initiated by the “Whites” and intervention by foreign powers in support of the White armies combined to destroy the foundations of the new regime.

It is claimed by anti-Marxist historians that Leninism led directly to Stalinism. But Stalin actually had to DESTROY the last vestiges of genuine Leninism in order to consolidate his counter-revolution. Incidentally, given that it was the isolation of the Russian Revolution which ultimately led to its demise under Stalin, it was not the politics of Lenin's Bolsheviks which led to Stalinism, it was the LACK of mass Leninist parties in other countries.

After Lenin’s death Trotsky kept alive the genuine Marxist idea that socialism means workers’ democracy, but unfortunately he clung to the idea that Russia had become a degenerated workers’ state, whereas in fact it had become under Stalin a bureaucratic state capitalist regime.
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Statistics

Works
1,117
Also by
23
Members
12,622
Popularity
#1,853
Rating
3.8
Reviews
165
ISBNs
805
Languages
24
Favorited
21

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