Leninism Under Lenin

by Marcel Liebman

Book Overview

A winner of the Isaac Deutscher Prize Liebmann highlights democratic dimensions in Lenin's thinking as it developed over 25 years.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1608466728
• ISBN13: 9781608466726
• Release Date: January 2017
• Publisher: Haymarket Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Definitive.

This is the most comprehensive historical account of Lenin I have ever read. Saying that, it is important to first note that Liebman definitely sympathizes with Lenin in most cases, however the amount of evidence provided to support any subjective views he might hold drowns out any semblance of bias or cherry picking. This is not to say that Liebman spares Lenin a critical appraisal - far from it. Liebman criticizes Lenin extensively throughout the book, however his criticisms are not based on fiction separated from objective realities of the time, but on wrong decisions and policies that Lenin could have avoided. Needless to say, when reading history the authors opinions should come second to the actual investigation, and in this regard Liebman's work is second to none. To the crux of it then. Liebman thoroughly investigates and documents such turbulent periods and history shaping events as Lenin's role in shaping the party before and after 1905, how the former, amongst other things, contributed to the Menshevik-Bolshevik split, the intense debates among different socialist organizations during the time, the developments and contributions to Marxist theory between the dying down of the 1905 revolution, the collapse of Tsarism and the civil war, both the notions of the 'dictatorship of the proletarian AND the peasantry' and Russia as 'the weakest link in the chain', (which I think was the weakest link of Lenin's theory), War-Communism, the New Economic Policy, Lenin's legacy and contributions to the rise of Stalinism, and, if you are still with me, the general social, political, and economic conditions during all these periods of time. Additionally, I would just like to add that I definitely did not cover it all...this work is all encompassing. So, if you want to learn about the beginning of Soviet History, and most importantly the figure who stands out most during this time, this book must be part of your research.