Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? in Context
by Lars T. Lih
71 Members (4.17)
On This Page
Description
Lenin's What is to Be Done? (1902) has long been seen as the founding document of a 'party of a new type'. For some, it provided a model of 'vanguard party' that was the essence of Bolshevism, for others it manifested Lenin's e litist and manipulatory attitude towards the workers. This substantial new commentary, based on contemporary Russian- and German-language sources, provides hitherto unavailable contextual information that undermines these views and shows how Lenin's argument rests show more squarely on an optimistic confidence in the workers' revolutionary inclinations and on his admiration of German Social Democracy in particular. Lenin's outlook cannot be understood, Lih claims here, outside the context of international Social Democracy, the disputes within Russian Social Democracy and the institutions of the revolutionary underground. The new translation focuses attention on hard-to-translate key terms. This study raises new and unsettling questions about the legacy of Marx, Bolshevism as a historical force, and the course of Soviet history, but, most of all, it will revolutionise the conventional interpretations of Lenin. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
All Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? in Context
- Original publication date
- 2005
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Economics, Politics and Government, Philosophy, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 335.430947 — Society, government, & culture Economics Socialism and related systems Marxian systems Communism History, geographic treatment, biography Europe Eastern Europe Russia
- LCC
- HX314 .L57 — Social sciences Socialism. Communism. Anarchism Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 71
- Popularity
- 440,806
- Rating
- (4.17)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
