http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php?feed=atom&namespace=0&title=Special%3ANewPages 2026-04-19T11:36:42Z From SocialistLibrary MediaWiki 1.16.5 http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/What_Is_to_Be_Done%3F 2011-12-29T23:22:40Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Whatistobedone.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Vladimir Lenin<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1902<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 236<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Lenin]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/V_for_Vendetta 2011-10-23T18:12:59Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Vforvendetta.jpg|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Alan Moore (writer), David Lloyd (illustrator)<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1982 - 1989<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 265<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> The well-known graphic novel ''V for Vendetta''. It isn't socialist in its outlook, but it's a great story with fantastic art work, and, judging by how often this particular copy gets borrowed and read, it's quite popular.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Fiction]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Capital 2011-10-16T22:23:48Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Capitalvolume1.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1867<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 900+<br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;color:#E00000&quot;&gt;'''* * * Currently on loan * * *'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> ''Capital, Volume I'', by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production, and of the class struggle rooted in the capitalist social relations of production. The first of three volumes of ''Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie'' (Capital: Critique of Political Economy) was published on 14 September 1867, and was the sole volume published in Marx’s lifetime.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Trotsky:_A_Photo_Documentary 2011-06-23T21:26:30Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Trotskyadocumentary.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Francis Wyndham, David King<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1972<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 201<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> A photo documentary following the life, exile, and assassination of Leon Trotsky.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Reformation_to_Industrial_Revolution 2011-06-22T23:56:23Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Reformationtorevolution.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Christopher Hill<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1967<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 288<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> The period 1530-1780 witnessed the making of modern English society. Under the Tudors England was a society of subsistence agriculture in which it was taken for granted that a fully human existence was possible only for the landed ruling class. In 1780 England was a national market on the threshold of industrial revolution, and the ideology of self-help had permeated into the middle ranks. A universal belief in original sin had been supplanted by the romanticism of 'Man is good'. And the first British Empire had already been won and lost. In this masterly study one of the great historians of the seventeenth century analyses the transformation of British society and the complex interaction of economic, cultural and political change in the period. In particular he stresses the political ferment of the seventeenth century and its influence on the revolutions in trade and agriculture, which in their turn prepared English society for the take-off into the modern industrial world.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/British_Capitalism:_Workers_and_the_Profits_Squeeze 2011-06-22T23:55:03Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Britishcapitalism.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Andrew Glyn, Bob Sutcliffe<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1972<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 271<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> According to the authors of this provocative Penguin Special, British capitalism has in the last few years given the lie to the basic assumption of the great majority of Western economists. Work-force's share of the economic cake, like that of Profit, remains more or less constant. They see the implications to be revolutionary, in a literal sense.<br /> <br /> They analyse the situation as follows. Because of increasing international competition, firms have been unable to pass on as higher prices the increased wages they have been forced to concede. Profit margins have narrowed. The evidence is clear and plentiful. But without profit to finance dividends and reinvestment, capitalism cannot survive. So which will be sacrificed - the System itself or the prosperity of ninety per cent of the population? Either way the political consequences will be formidable.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Selected_Writings_in_Sociology_and_Social_Philosophy 2011-06-22T23:53:28Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Selectedwritingssociology.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' Various<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 262<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Modern sociology owes much to Marx: the definition of the field of study, the analysis of the economic structure and its relations with other parts of the social structure, the theory of social classes, and the theory of ideology. Marx worked to transform speculative philosophy into a critical social theory which would be of use to the largest, and most degraded, section of society. The techniques he used, no less than his conclusions, are still worthy of consideration.<br /> <br /> The necessity for an extensive selection from Marx's work is shown by the fact that many of his writings in translation are not well known, and that in some cases the translations are unsatisfactory. Most of the passages in this book have been newly translated, and many appear in English for the first time. This selection, from the whole of Marx's writing, with the exception of his correspondence, endeavours to present the evolution of his ideas, the main features of his method, and the chief conclusions of his research.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Reform_or_Revolution 2011-06-22T23:51:23Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Reformorrevolution.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Rosa Luxemburg<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1900<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 64<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> How does Marxism support the struggles for reforms?<br /> <br /> Hasn't capitalism changed since the days of Marx?<br /> <br /> Can capitalism be gradually reformed into socialism?<br /> <br /> If not, how will socialism be achieved?<br /> <br /> <br /> These ideas and questions, frequently raised in the labour movement today, are not new. Eduard Bernstein, one of Marx and Engels' literary executors and a respected leader of the German Social Democratic Party, argued at the turn of the century for revising Marx's theories &quot;in the light of more recent evidence.&quot; Rosa Luxemburg, an outstanding revolutionary figure until her murder in 1919, led the struggle against &quot;revisionism&quot;. ''Reform or Revolution'' was Rosa's reply to Bernstein's ideas.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Luxemburg]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Stalinism_and_Bolshevism 2011-06-22T23:46:22Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Stalinismandbolshevism.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Leon Trotsky<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1937<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 20<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> What happened to the Russian Revolution?<br /> <br /> How did Stalin come to power?<br /> <br /> Is Stalinism inevitable?<br /> <br /> <br /> In this pamphlet Trotsky shows the roots of the Stalinist bureaucracy were not in the victory of the Bolsheviks in the revolution of October 1917, but lay in the conditions of backwardness which followed the isolation of the revolution to Russia, and the destruction of four years of civil war.<br /> <br /> Stalinism represented not the development of Bolshevism but a political counter-revolution, bringing forth the task of a new political revolution, to restore workers democracy to the state and economy.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Communism_and_the_Family 2011-06-22T23:41:00Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Communismandthefamily.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Alexandra Kollontai<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1920<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 20<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Kollontai]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/The_Ragged_Trousered_Philanthropists 2011-06-22T23:37:52Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Raggedtrousered.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Robert Tressell<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1955<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 584<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> ''The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'' is one of the most significant novels to have appeared this century. It was the first novel to reveal the true reality of the subjection and destitution of working class life in 'the good old days' of the Edwardian age - an age when everybody knew his place and because of it was supposed to be content. It is a masterpiece of its kinds, a passionate, bitter journey through hell: 'a real hell inhabited by real people, a hell made by one's fellow men'.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Fiction]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Love_of_Worker_Bees 2011-06-22T23:35:56Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Loveofworkerbees.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Alexandra Kollontai<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1923<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 222<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> ''Love of Worker Bees'', written by one of the most famous and gifted Russian women of our century, was greeted on publication in 1923 as sexually too explicit. Fifty years later, this new translation makes available - for the first time on forty years - a remarkable work of fiction which is both a moving love story and a graphic and rare portrait of Russian life in the 20s.<br /> <br /> Set in Russia immediately after the October revolution and the end of the Civil War, the heroine Vasya - one of the most delightful in Russian literature - struggles to come to terms with her passionate need and love for her husband, and the demands of the new world in which she lives. Her story unfolds against a backcloth of the 'ordinary' Russian people of the time - the Party workers, entrepreneurs, prostitutes, manipulators, idealists.<br /> <br /> As a portrait of a society in transition, ''Love of Worker Bees'' is unique; as a love story, a fascinating and poignant work of art.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Kollontai]]<br /> [[Category:Fiction]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Divide_and_Rule 2011-06-22T23:34:00Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Divideandrule.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Peter Hadden<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1980<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 91<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> '''Labour and the partition of Ireland'''<br /> <br /> Why was Ireland divided?<br /> <br /> What was the true role of organisations like Sinn Fein?<br /> <br /> Why did Carson and the UVF gain a basis of support in the North?<br /> <br /> What was the role of the labour movement, above all of James Connolly, during the years before partition?<br /> <br /> <br /> ''Divide and Rule'' deals with these questions. It provides a Marxist analysis of the events leading to the division of Ireland. It refutes the muth that Catholic and Protestant workers have not and cannot be united. Above all it explains how the unification of Ireland can be posed in a class manner by socialists today.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Marx_on_Economics 2011-06-22T23:32:14Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Marxoneconomics.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' Various<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 241<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> It is all too easy to agree or disagree with the theories of Karl Marx without having read them. It is not so easy to read them. His great work, ''Capital'', and his other writings (which include the famous ''Communist Manifesto'', published in 1848) are - to quote Professor Freedman's preface - 'forbidding in volume and turgid in prose'.<br /> <br /> This condensed version enables the ordinary reader, for the first time, to make an impartial and intelligent study of Marx's economic theories and his critique of capitalism. It is a systematic compilation of extracts which are drawn from all his publications and presented in a logical order with brief summaries of the argument.<br /> <br /> These extracts throw into sharp relief those economic truths with which Marx and Engels showed a pioneering insight: and they also reveal the major shortcomings of Marxian doctrine - in particular its failure to foresee the extent to which capitalism was capable of reform and also its vague Utopianism when viewed as a political programme.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Karl_Marx_and_His_Teaching 2011-06-22T23:30:47Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Karlmarxandhisteaching.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Vladimir Lenin<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' Various<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 55<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> A collection of Lenin's writings.<br /> <br /> '''Contains:'''<br /> <br /> ''The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism''<br /> <br /> ''Karl Marx'' (A Brief Biographical Sketch with an Exposition of Marxism)<br /> <br /> ''Frederick Engels''<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Lenin]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Wage_Labour_and_Capital 2011-06-22T23:28:39Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Wagelabourandcapital.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1891<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 45<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Basic_Writings_on_Politics_and_Philosophy 2011-06-22T23:25:15Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Basicwritingsonpoliticsandphilosophy.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx and Frederick Engels<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' Various<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 535<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Professor Feuer's wide-ranging selection from the works of Marx and Engels is drawn from books, essays, journalism and letters. He adds useful prefatory notes and he contributes a reflective introduction in which he discusses, in particular, Marx's historical materialism and the influence it has had in Europe and Russia, Africa and Asia during last century and this. Each generation, he says, sees a refutation of Marx: it sees also a revival of neo-Marxism - for, Marx not only, in Professor Feuer's words, 'shaped the historical movement of a century'; he also gave to that movement 'its most distinctive vision and language'.<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> '''Contains:'''<br /> <br /> ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'', by Marx and Engels<br /> <br /> ''A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy'', by Marx (excerpt)<br /> <br /> ''On Historical Materialism'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Socialism: Utopian and Scientific'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Critique of the Gotha Programme'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'', by Marx (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''On the History of Early Christianity'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Theses on Feuerbach'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''The German Ideology'', by Marx and Engels (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''Toward the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right'', by Marx (excerpt)<br /> <br /> ''The Communism of the Paper'' Rheinischer Beobachter, by Marx (excerpt)<br /> <br /> ''Herr Eugen Dühring's Revolution in Science'', by Engels (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850'', by Marx (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte'', by Marx (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''The Civil War in France'', by Marx (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State'', by Engels (excerpt)<br /> <br /> ''Letters on Historical Materialism'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''The Peasant War in Germany'', by Engels (excerpts)<br /> <br /> ''Letters and Essays on Political Sociology'', by Marx and Engels<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]<br /> [[Category:Engels]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/The_Essential_Marx 2011-06-22T23:14:49Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Essentialmarx.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx, edited by Leon Trotsky<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1939<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 184<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Shortly before he was assassinated in 1940, Leon Trotsky - one of Marx's most devoted converts and a key figure in the Russian Revolution - made this selection from ''Capital'', to which he appended his own lengthy and insightful introduction. Compact and fascinating, this invaluable work not only presents Marx's thoughts in his own words but also places them in the swirling context of the twentieth century.<br /> <br /> A critical analysis of ideas that have influenced millions of lives for well over a century, this book will be an important addition to the libraries of students and instructors of economics, history, government, and Communist thought.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Socialism_Made_Easy 2011-06-22T23:10:50Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Socialismmadeeasy.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' James Connolly<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1909<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 24<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Marxism_Opposes_Individual_Terrorism 2011-06-22T23:08:01Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Marxismopposesindividualterrorism.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Leon Trotsky, Peter Taaffe<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1909, 1982<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 29<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]<br /> [[Category:Socialist Party material]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Students_and_Revolution 2011-06-22T23:04:43Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Studentsandrevolution.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Leon Trotsky<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1923<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 12<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Marx_and_Engels:_Selected_Works 2011-06-22T23:01:45Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Marxengelsselectedworks.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx, Frederick Engels<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' Various<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 36<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> '''Contains:'''<br /> <br /> ''Karl Marx'', by Lenin<br /> <br /> ''Frederick Engles'', by Lenin<br /> <br /> ''The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism'', by Lenin<br /> <br /> ''Theses on Feuerbach'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'', by Marx and Engels<br /> <br /> ''Wage Labour and Capital'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''Wages, Price and Profit'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation'', by Marx (chapter 32 of Capital)<br /> <br /> ''The Civil War in France'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''Apropos of Working-class Political Action'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Critique of the Gotha Programme'', by Marx<br /> <br /> ''The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Karl Marx'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Socialism: Utopian and Scientific'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''On the History of the Communist League'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy'', by Engels<br /> <br /> ''The Peasant Question in France and Germany'', by Engels<br /> <br /> <br /> Also contains letters, prefaces, introductions, and more.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]<br /> [[Category:Engels]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/The_Tasks_of_the_Youth_Leagues 2011-06-22T22:48:52Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Tasksoftheyouthleagues.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Vladimir Lenin<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1920<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 22<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Lenin]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/The_State 2011-06-22T22:47:26Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Thestate.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Vladimir Lenin<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1929<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 24<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Lenin]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Manifesto_of_the_Communist_Party 2011-06-22T22:45:32Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Manifestoofthecommunistparty.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx, Frederick Engels<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1848<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 81<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> The classic work of Marx and Engels. A must read.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]<br /> [[Category:Engels]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Stalinism_Reading_Guide_Part_1:_The_Thermidor_Reaction,_1923-1937 2011-06-22T22:31:19Z

<p>Socialist.students: Created page with &quot;This is the first of an intended three part series of reading guides on Stalinism, the second looking at Stalinism following the Second World War, the developments in Eastern Eur...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>This is the first of an intended three part series of reading guides on Stalinism, the second looking at Stalinism following the Second World War, the developments in Eastern Europe and the colonial revolution, while the third will focus on the bureaucratic stagnation of the Stalinist planned economies and it’s later collapse.<br /> <br /> These are, as I’ve said, reading guides rather than study guides and will be provided to comrades with the full selection of the material referred to rather than attempting to develop any detailed political arguments here, this will flow from the material and follow up discussions and debates with comrades.<br /> <br /> In addition to commenting on and providing materials relating to the specific period in question I will also briefly touch upon the Russian revolution, which I’ll go into after making some introductory comments on Stalinism and the complications involved in a study of it. <br /> <br /> The first and most important thing to grasp in a study like this, is the impossibility of total ‘impartiality’ from individuals and groups when it comes to history, indeed, as Marxists we understand that as long as classes exist, based upon and maintained though a combination of exploitation, manipulation and direct suppression the search for it is a futile one. Trotsky himself was keen to recognise this enigma of history and understood that, given his personal involvement in the events and that he ‘lost’ to Stalin, his own accounts of that struggle might be dismissed out of hand for that reason.<br /> <br /> As we both know and this material demonstrates, the struggle between Trotsky and Stalin was not a personalised clash but one that was merely the most visible expression of a far larger social conflict in society between the classes as in the final analysis, the real developments of history, political leaders come to be the figureheads of groups and classes with their own vested interests.<br /> <br /> In addressing this issue then of his supposed bias, Trotsky dedicated a large section of the preference to his over 1000-page epic ‘The History of the Russian Revolution’ – 1930, of which I will quote the relevant section,<br /> <br /> “This work will not rely in any degree upon personal recollections. The circumstance that the author was a participant in the events does not free him from the obligation to base his exposition upon historically verified documents. The author speaks of himself, in so far as that is demanded by the course of events, in the third person. And that is not a mere literary form: the subjective tone, inevitable in autobiographies or memoirs, is not permissible in a work of history.<br /> <br /> However, the fact that the author did participate in the struggle naturally makes easier his understanding, not only of the psychology of the forces in action, both individual and collective, but also of the inner connection of events. This advantage will give positive results only if one condition is observed: that he does not rely upon the testimony of his own memory either in trivial details or in important matters, either in questions of fact or questions of motive and mood. The author believes that in so far as in him lies he has fulfilled this condition.<br /> <br /> There remains the question of the political position of the author, who stands as a historian upon the same viewpoint upon which he stood as a participant in the events. The reader, of course, is not obliged to share the political views of the author, which the latter on his side has no reason to conceal. But the reader does have the right to demand that a historical work should not be the defence of a political position, but an internally well-founded portrayal of the actual process of the revolution. A historical work only then completely fulfils the mission when events unfold upon its pages in their full natural necessity.<br /> <br /> For this, is it necessary to have the so-called historian’s “impartiality”? Nobody has yet clearly explained what this impartiality consists of. The often quoted words of Clemenceau that it is necessary to take a revolution “en bloc,” as a whole – are at the best a clever evasion. How can you take as a whole a thing whose essence consists in a split? Clemenceau’s aphorism was dictated partly by shame for his too resolute ancestors, partly by embarrassment before their shades.<br /> <br /> One of the reactionary and therefore fashionable historians in contemporary France, L. Madelin, slandering in his drawing-room fashion the great revolution – that is, the birth of his own nation – asserts that “the historian ought to stand upon the wall of a threatened city, and behold at the same time the besiegers and the besieged”: only in this way, it seems, can he achieve a “conciliatory justice.” However, the words of Madelin himself testify that if he climbs out on the wall dividing the two camps, it is only in the character of a reconnoiterer for the reaction. It is well that he is concerned only with war camps of the past: in a time of revolution standing on the wall involves great danger. Moreover, in times of alarm the priests of “conciliatory justice” are usually found sitting on the inside of four walls waiting to see which side will win.<br /> The serious and critical reader will not want a treacherous impartiality, which offers him a cup of conciliation with a well-settled poison of reactionary hate at the bottom, but a scientific conscientiousness, which for its sympathies and antipathies – open and undisguised – seeks support in an honest study of the facts, a determination of their real connections, an exposure of the causal laws of their movement. That is the only possible historic objectivism, and moreover it is amply sufficient, for it is verified and attested not by the good intentions of the historian, for which only he himself can vouch, but the natural laws revealed by him of the historic process itself.”<br /> <br /> While this work is outside the timescale that will be the focus of our current study, it goes without saying that Trotsky was to adopt such an approach in all his major writings, particularly those relating to the Stalinist counter-revolution, something that has made it difficult for various reactionary bourgeois historians to find supporting evidence for their historical falsification, that the conflict between Trotsky and Stalin was merely the clash between 2 would be dictators, although naturally, this had not stopped them doing so anyway.<br /> <br /> This brings us on the inherent bias of bourgeois historians in general who have a vested interest in distorting the true history of these events and in particular the Russian October revolution itself that, for the first and to date only time in history challenged their social position as rules and attempted to place the working-class in power, laying the basis for a truly democratic socialist society.<br /> <br /> While its true that most educated professional bourgeois historians are above such blatant one-sided propaganda against the Russian revolution or any event that challenges the immortality of the existing social system and that it is only a minority, although a very large minority, are so blatant and see themselves as bring modern day crusaders for their class, people like Robert Service, who refused to debate with us at ‘Socialism’ over his hatchet job biography of Trotsky and Simon Montefiore, who lie so openly and shamefully in their books that even they often end up tripping up and contradicting themselves, sometimes even in the same paragraphs!<br /> <br /> None the less, as Marxists we understand that even the majority of historians who do not see themselves as consciously defending the existing capitalist social system, including people like Anthony Beevor who’s books on the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War have received objective praise from the Socialist Party, the fact remains that unless they embrace a Marxist analysis that allows them to place events in a comprehensible framework; they inevitably present a bourgeois analysis that is an anti-revolutionary, pro-capitalist picture.<br /> The reason for this is the deep penetration of the philosophy of the ruling-class into every aspect of society, in 1846 Marx and Engles, in their first collaborative work ‘The German Ideology’ summed up the phenomena,<br /> <br /> “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time the ruling intellectual force. The class which had the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it.” <br /> <br /> Given this is only meant to be some short notes about some material I’m lending you I’ll cool off the philosophy and get back to the matter at hand.<br /> <br /> As I mentioned earlier, in addition to material on the period of the Stalinist counter-revolution, from 1923 onwards, ending on the great terror in the late 30’s, when the entire marxist left-opposition in the soviet Union were brutally wiped out, it is worth absorbing some material on the revolution itself because of the need to challenge the common bourgeois lie that Stalin and Stalinism represented a natural and unbroken continuation of Lenin and Leninism, that is, revolutionary Marxism.<br /> <br /> I don’t really need to relate to you the complete nonsense of this position, for if it were indeed the case, that Stalin simply continued where Lenin left off, then why was it necessary for Stalin and the rising bureaucratic caste he represented to wage a near civil war inside the state and the Communist Party, to exterminate all the old leaders, inflict massive state terror on the working-class and abolish all remains of democracy in the state and party? This last point is especially important given the single most repeated historical falsification regarding the Russian revolution, that the October revolution which resulted in the destruction of the bourgeois state and transfer of power to the Soviets was an undemocratic coup rather than a mass uprising of the working-class.<br /> <br /> For this purpose I’ll start with recommending you look at the highly informative and also very funny ‘Lenin for Beginners,’ by Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate. Having gotten much out of ‘Marx for Beginners’ I can assure you that I view this one in much the same league although I would ignore the pathetic 90’s new introduction and postscripts by Appiganesi that reflect the authors political degeneration in the face of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the seemingly continued stable development of capitalism at that time. Today, given we face on a world scale the worst recession since the 30’s, the full effects of which have not even been felt yet and Latin America is being torn apart in many countries by revolutionary and socialist movements, his cynical dismissal of Lenin and the Russian revolution seems rather quaint.<br /> <br /> Covering the same ground although in much more detail, we then have the Socialist Party pamphlet ‘1917 The Year than changed the World,’ containing a series of articles form ‘The Socialist’ and a longer appendix from ‘Socialism Today.’<br /> <br /> Leading on form the revolution is of course the issue of Bolshevism or Leninism is power and while, like with the revolution, a detailed overview of the Soviet state during it’s early years is way beyond your remit, a quick look at the role Lenin played in struggling against the first emergence of Stalinism in the final period of his active political life is important to dismiss the already referred to bourgeois and Stalinist lie, that Stalinism was a natural continuation of Leninism. To this end I’ve included an issue of ‘Militant International Review’ from 1980 which has a reprint of the 1970 article by Alan Woods, ‘Lenin’s Last Struggle.’ Woods shows that with regard to the main issues at the time, the economy, the growing bureaucracy in the state and party and most important personally for Lenin, the national question, Lenin was in opposition to Stalin and the forces he was representing.<br /> <br /> Moving on to Stalinism, I recommend you next check out the Militant, pamphlet, ‘Ideals of October,’ by Rob Sewell, written in 1977 for the LPYS, Labour Party Young Socialists, which was under the political leadership of Militant at that time. It gives a short, but still fairly comprehensive overview of the October revolution, going into more detail on issues like Lenin’s, Trotsky’s and the right-wing of the Bolshevik party differing conceptions on the coming revolution and the rise of Stalinism, setting the scene nicely for the greater detail you can explore later on.<br /> <br /> Before delving more fully into exploring how Stalinism developed in Russia, I think it’s worth turning now to the extract from the short ‘Theses on Revolution and Counter-Revolution,’ by Trotsky, jotted down in his diary in 1926 at the height of the struggle of the Marxist left-opposition against the conservative, counter-revolutionary bureaucracy, in it he attempts to stretch out in very ruff outline the social causes for the rise of the Stalinist reaction to the revolution. These quick notes, that barley fill 2-sides of A4 contain more incite and understanding than the literary thousands of books written on the Soviet Union by the bourgeois academics over the last 80-years! It is interesting also that, while Trotsky is famous for his masterful writing style, his words dripping with dry sarcasm, irony and eloquent metaphors to help his readers follow his analyses, here we see that he was equally capable of getting right to the heart of the matter and summarising it in a clear and concise form.<br /> <br /> Following nicely on from that we have, ‘Russia-How the Bureaucracy Seized Power,’ by George Collins from the Nigerian section of the CWI, written in 1987. This is particularly useful as since it’s written as a study guide, with probing questions and it’s even own reading guide for each section. This probably remains one of the best introductions to Stalinism yet produced, its strength lies in the materialist approach, to ground Stalinism in the defeats of the world revolution, the isolation and backwardness of the Soviet Union.<br /> <br /> Taking a step back from the late 30’s, even though the pamphlet ‘, ‘Russia-How the Bureaucracy Seized Power,’ does give a sweeping overview of the development of Stalinism, without as much detail given to the early stages it can still seem to have somewhat come out of nowhere. For this reason the next 4-pamphlets and 1-book should be seen as part of a series that conical the development of Stalinism from it’s earliest stages until it’s consolidation and along with that, the attempts of the Marxists in Russia to check and later role back this degeneration. <br /> <br /> The first ‘Documents of the 1923 Opposition’ is a collection of articles and speeches from the Marxist wing of the Communist Party, the left-opposition, led by Trotsky and represent their first attempts to directly challenge the political mistakes and inconsistencies of the leading troika of Stalin-Kamenev-Zimoviev who were beginning to depart from Marxism and were heading in a counter-revolutionary direction.<br /> <br /> This is followed by ‘Lessons of October’ written by Trotsky in 1924 following the appalling role played by Stalin and Zimoviev in particular in their complete wrecking of potential German socialist revolution the previous year in 1923. While this blunder was not a conscious attempt to play a counter-revolutionary role as was for example Stalin’s later policy in regard to Spain, none the less, the key leaders of the Russian Communist Party and Communist International had shown themselves to have no firm grasp on any of the fundamental ideas of the October revolution and so this book was at attempt to re-arm the Party politically and avoid such future setbacks. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately they were unwilling to listen to Trotsky’s advice, as was shown later, the ‘General 1926 Strike’ mostly contains material by Trotsky criticising the opportunist and non-revolutionary approach the Communist International, by now completely controlled by the Russian Communist Party, which was advising to the British Communist Party before and during the strike who had the potential to make massive gains and greatly advance the socialist movement in our country, instead the opportunity was lost, the Russian Stalinist leaders being more concerned about using the British trade union leaders to put pressure on their government not to attack the soviet Union than advancing the cause of the British working-class and thus break the Soviet Union out of it’s isolation.<br /> <br /> It was because of the mistakes of the British general strike and also the spectacular defeat of the Chinese revolution that in 1927 Kamenev and Zimoviev split from Stalin and joined Trotsky and the left-opposition to form the joint-opposition. The book, ‘The Platform of the Join Opposition 1927’ contains a systematic overview of their analyses of what was going wrong in the Soviet Union and the necessary steps to move the regime away from the increasingly dictatorial police state it was becoming and towards a genuine socialist state. While the program is not wholly Marxist, as Trotsky and the left-opposition had to make certain tactical concessions to the rightists who joined, in it’s fundamentals it was a program that laid the basis for collaboration against Stalin and the bureaucracy.<br /> <br /> Finally in this section, we have the short and very moving pamphlet ‘Adolph Joffe 1883-1927’ it contains a tribute to the long standing Marxist and close collaborator of Trotsky for many years before the revolution and later with him in the left-opposition Joffe who tragically committed suicide as an act of defiant protest against the Stalinist regime since his ill heath prevented him from continuing the struggle and the regime was slowly killing him by refusing to allow him to travel abroad for the necessary treatment. The bulk of this pamphlet however is taken up by Joffe’s farewell letter to Trotsky, explaining the reasons for his dramatic suicide and confirming his total and unyielding commitment to Trotsky, the left-opposition and the communist future of mankind. While, like the Serge book, which I’ll get on to later, it may not have the strongest analyse, it adds a particularly moving indictment to the long list of crimes committed by Stalin and the bureaucracy.<br /> <br /> While Stalinism began as a national phenomena that developed inside Russia, as the last series of pamphlet outlined, it was soon to spread out, like a cancer, and corrupt the international communist movement as well. While the main points have indeed been touched on, it’s explained how the resulting defeats for the revolution abroad strengthened the Stalinist reaction inside the Soviet Union and the corresponding changes in their foreign policy and the political program of the communist International, these issues are drawn out in much more detail in ‘The rise and Fall of the communist International: The Evolution of the Comintern’ written in 1936 by the Trotskyist Walter Held, who was later murdered by the Stalinists in 1941, not having a hard copy I’ve had to print this out myself.<br /> <br /> I’m also throwing in 2-pamthelts by Trotsky as a final stop gap before we move on to the most important item; the first ‘In Defence of October’ is a transcript of speech he delivered during his exile in Copenhagen in 1932 to the Social Democratic youth. While the section covering the uneven development of capitalism in Russia and the theory of permanent revolution are very good, to be honest, it’s all stuff that’s been covered before in the material I’ve already mentioned.<br /> <br /> The Second pamphlet ‘Stalinism and Bolshevism’ is much more relevant to your studies and contains Trotsky’s own reply to the accusation that Stalinism was a natural outgrowth of Bolshevism or Leninism, although this issue has been covered already, in the other material the information is scattered, here it is the main focus, brought together all in one place and for that reason it’s worth reading.<br /> <br /> Finally, as you may have been waiting patiently, we have ‘The Revolution Betrayed’ by Trotsky; this is his masterpiece, the most important contribution he made to Marxist theory. In the book, written just before the show trials in 1936, Trotsky outlines a Marxist analysis of Stalinism, what it is, what it represents, along with what forces are directing it ‘s future development. While by no means an easy read, it remains the definitive account of Stalinism on which all subsequent Marxist analysis of Stalinism was based, expanding and developing it, as was done by Militant for example in ‘Bureaucratism or Workers Power,’ written in 1967 by Ted Grant and Roger Silverman.<br /> <br /> Even though it cannot be seriously argued to be the most analytical, the very personalised depiction of the highs and lows of the revolution in Russia by the then Left-Oppositionist Victor Serge, ‘From Lenin to Stalin’ offers a vivid account that gives the Marxist analysis by Trotsky in ‘The Revolution Betrayed’ a real living dimension.<br /> <br /> Having now gotten a handle on Stalinism, it’s now time to delve more deeply into the terror itself, the first stage of which was the 1936 show trials so you should check out ‘The Red Book’ by Trotsky’s son Leon Sedov. Although today it is common knowledge that the trial was a frame up, that the ‘confessions’ were extracted from the defendants by use of torture and threats against their families, at the time public opinion was with the regime and this expose by Sedov played a pivotal role in beginning to turn the tide. What makes the book really stand though and give it its lasting quality is the opening chapters, where Sedov explains the reasons and motives for Stalin resorting to these show trials and with them, the generalised terror melted out to the population as a whole.<br /> <br /> In short, Stalin represented a bureaucratic caste who demanded such actions, as only the complete and total atomisation of the Russian workers, smashing the last traces of revolutionary Marxism would unable them to dominate society unchallenged. Without question Stalin went further than was necessary in this end, the depth of the killings brought about a massive disruption of the economy and in the case of the purge in the army, executing some of the most experienced Russian military leaders left the country vulnerable when Nazi Germany invaded. Yet in spite of the excesses, Stalin was doing a fine job serving their interests and while they might have secretly wished form someone more stable, the fact was that Stalin’s history as an old Bolshevik and the cult of personally they had build up around him meant he would have been difficult to replace without causing even more widespread disruption and even worse, possibly encouraging the more radical subversive elements in the opposition to go on the offensive.<br /> <br /> These cover all the basic points Marxists need to explain when attempting to analyse Stalinism and the terror, although admittedly while having a very solid grasp of the main social forces that were behind it, which in the grand scheme of things is the most important, specific details of the terror are somewhat lacking. This is why I will endower to acquire a copy of ‘1937: Stalin’s Year of Terror’ as soon as possible, especially given the highly favourable review of the text in an issue of ‘Socialism Today’ the review titled, ‘1937 Persecution &amp; Defiance.’ <br /> <br /> The final book I’ve included which looks somewhat longer than it is, ‘Lenin and Trotsky What They Really Stood For’ by Woods and Grant written in 1969, is unlike the others in that the whole thing is a polemic, that is a political attack against the work of the late Monty Johnson, the small second part following this not really being worth reading, who wrote a pamphlet viciously attacking Trotsky and the Marxist theory of Stalinism.<br /> <br /> Johnson at the time was a Stalinist himself, a leading member of the British Communist Party youth wing, a party now thankfully nearly extinct, who argued that the Soviet Union was genuinely socialist and that the horrors that happened in Stalin’s days was a thing of the past and was all the fault of Stalin personally, as if he had personally rounded up the millions and driven each of the trains that carried them to the gulags! The main thrust of his argument however being a rejection of Trotsky’s advocacy of a political revolution in the Soviet Union to re-establish soviet democracy, him arguing that the bureaucratic deformations in the workers state will simply work themselves out over time though a series of top down reforms and that Trotsky’s warnings of the top layer of bureaucrats carrying though a counter- revolution, grabbing state property and transforming themselves into a capitalist class was out of the question. Well, we know both know who turned out to be right. While the polemical style may take some getting used to and at times it might seem rather strange that Woods and Grant are arguing with someone whose views today are so completely discredited but bare in mind that at the time in millions of people around the world held these or similar views, if you can bare with it, I assure you it’s a very rewarding book and can act as a comprehensive overview to the whole study.<br /> <br /> Finally to round everything off I present to you the extremely rewarding lengthy article, ‘On Some Critics of Trotsky’ by Jean van Heijenoort published by the 4th International in 1942, 2-years after Trotsky’s assassination. The reason for its inclusion here is that it effectively demolishes the standard liberal explanations for the ‘failure’ of Trotsky in his struggle with Stalin. As you well know, though his victory in leading the Red Army in the civil war and his personal prestige in being the principle organiser of the October revolution Trotsky had many opportunities to oust Stalin and the other members of the dengrate leadership yet he refused outright to make use of them, why? The reason, as every Marxist knows is that, while it would have been superficially pleasing to image Trotsky sending in the Red Army to arrest Stalin, the other degenerate leaders and throw them in prison, had Trotsky done that, had he used the methods available to him at the time to seize power it would not have advanced the aims of Trotsky and the left-opposition, that stood for genuine workers democracy and internationalism, Trotsky and his comrades would have been trapped at the head of a now militarised police state and the army would without doubt have turned on them the moment they attempted to implement their program.<br /> <br /> '''Dominic Smith 22/06/2011'''</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Socialism_and_Left_Unity 2011-05-06T14:25:26Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Socialismandleftunity.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Peter Taaffe<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 2008<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 100<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> &quot;A critique of the Socialist Workers Party&quot;.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Socialist Party material]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Marxism_in_Today%27s_World 2011-05-06T14:24:33Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Marxismintodaysworld.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Peter Taaffe<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 2006<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 107<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> ''Marxism in Today's World'' tackles head on vital contemporary issues: war, including the Lebanese conflict, the future of Israel/Palestine, the environment, China and its future, economic prospects for world capitalism and many more controversial issues. This provides and invaluable Marxist analysis for all those who wish to understand how Marxism can affect the outcome of the worldwide ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism and lay the basis for a new world of human solidarity.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Socialist Party material]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Socialism_in_the_21st_Century 2011-05-06T14:22:43Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Socialisminthe21stcentury.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Hannah Sell<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 2002<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 84<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> &quot;The way forward for anti-capitalism&quot;.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Socialist Party material]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/In_Defence_of_October 2011-05-06T14:20:04Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Indefenceofoctover.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Leon Trotsky<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1932<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 31<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Why and how did the Russian Revolution take place?<br /> <br /> How did the working class come to power in a backward country?<br /> <br /> What have been the results of the revolution?<br /> <br /> Has the revolution stood the test of time?<br /> <br /> <br /> ''In Defence of October'' was a speech delivered by Trotsky in exile in Copenhagen in 1932, on the fifteenth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. It turned out to be his last public speech before his murder by a Stalinist assassin in 1940. He clearly outlines the roots of the revolution, the role of the Bolshevik Party, and explains the historical justification of the revolution, despite the subsequent crimes of Stalinism, in showing the working class internationally the road to the overthrow of capitalism.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Lenin_for_Beginners 2011-05-06T14:13:34Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Leninforbeginners.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> [[File:Leninforbeginners-example.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Richard Appignanesi (text), Oscar Zarate (illustrations)<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1977<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 169<br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;color:#E00000&quot;&gt;'''* * * Currently on loan * * *'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Tsars and peasants, Bloody Sunday and War Communism, Rasputin and Kerensky, Narodniks and Bolsheviks, exiles and commissars... With a cast of thousands, ''Lenin for Beginners'' brings one of the major revolutionary figures of this century within any reader's grasp.<br /> <br /> This zany documentary comic strip is the perfect introduction to Lenin's writings and a wonderful take-off point for anybody who wants to plunge into the tumultuous history of the Russian Revolution.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Misc]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Science,_Marxism_and_the_Big_Bang 2011-05-06T14:07:19Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Sciencemarxism.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Peter Mason<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 2007<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 112<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> The ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander once wrote that the heavens and the worlds within them began in a &quot;sphere of fire&quot;, arising from some unbounded chaos. Some 2,400 years later, Friedrich Engels echoed Anaximander's dialectic: &quot;Everything that comes into being must pass away.&quot;<br /> <br /> ''Science, Marxism and the Big Bang'' discusses some of the great philosophies and scientific discoveries of cosmology - including those of Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Kant, Hegel, Engels and Einstein. This discussion dispels the misconceptions of ''Reason in Revolt'' - the book by Ted Grant and Alan Woods that claims to expound the fundamentals of Marxism - in particular that the Big Bang theory is just another &quot;creation myth&quot;.<br /> <br /> Engels praised Immanuel Kant's theory of the &quot;origin of all existing celestial bodies&quot;. Peter Manson argues that Engels' outlook is compatible with modern theories of the origins of our universe.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Socialist Party material]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Value,_Price_and_Profit 2011-05-06T14:05:16Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Valuepriceprofit.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Karl Marx<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1865<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 36<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> Although delivered as a speech, this paper remained unpublished until after Marx's death. It reads like a condensed version of [[Capital, Volume I]], and contains Marx's essential arguments about the workings of capital. Although we highly recommend reading Capital Volume 1 for a thorough understanding of capitalist economics, this volume provides an excellent introduction to Marx's ideas.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Marx]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/The_Revolution_Betrayed 2011-05-06T14:03:20Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Revolutionbetrayed.JPG|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Leon Trotsky<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1937<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 233<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Blurb==<br /> One of Marxism's most important texts, ''The Revolution Betrayed'' explores the fate of the Russian Revolution after Lenin's death. Written in 1936 and published the following year, this brilliant and profound evaluation of Stalinism from the Marxist standpoint prophesied the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent related events.<br /> <br /> The effects of the October Revolution led to the establishment of a nationalized planned economy, demonstrating the practicality of socialism for the first time. By the early 1930s, however, the Soviet workers' democracy had crumbled into a state of bureaucratic decay that ultimately gave rise to an infamous totalitarian regime. Trotsky employs facts, figures, and statistics to show how Stalinist policies rejected the enormous productive potential of the nationalized planned economy in favor of a wasteful and corrupt bureaucratic system.<br /> <br /> Six decades after the publication of this classic, the shattering of Stalinist regimes in Russia and Eastern Europe has confused and demoralized countless political activists. ''The Revolution Betrayed'' offers readers of every political persuasion an insider's view of what went wrong.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Trotsky]]</div>

Socialist.students http://socialists.susu.org/library/index.php/Socialism:_Utopian_and_Scientific 2011-05-06T12:43:11Z

<p>Socialist.students: </p> <hr /> <div>[[File:Socialismutopianandscientific.jpg|right|frame]]<br /> <br /> '''Author:''' Frederick Engels<br /> <br /> '''Year:''' 1878<br /> <br /> '''Pages:''' 93<br /> <br /> ''Also available to buy''<br /> <br /> ==Description==<br /> One of the fundamental texts of Marxism, ''Socialism: Utopian and Scientific'' explores the flaws of utopian socialism, and argues in favour of a scientific approach. More importantly, the book discusses the materialistic approach to history, and outlines the different phases of economic production, from pre-capitalistic society to a workers' controlled economy.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Everything]]<br /> [[Category:Engels]]</div>

Socialist.students