Revolution, Democracy, Socialism

V.I. Lenin (1870-1924) was a pivotal figure in twentieth century radical politics. He was a theoretician and the leader of the Russian Bolshevik Party. He wrote widely, authoring books such as Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Pluto, 1996). His selected writings were collected in the volume Revolution, Democracy, Socialism (Pluto, 2008).Paul Le Blanc is an activist and acclaimed American historian teaching at La Roche University, Pennsylvania. A conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, his politics were at odds with the establishment from a young age. He has written extensively on the history of the labor and socialist movements of the United States and Europe, including books on Lenin, Trotsky, Luxemburg and the importance of the revolutionary collective.

'A reminder that what is, need not be, and that what has, seemingly, failed, can be reconstituted anew'

• TEN REASONS FOR NOT READING LENINby Paul Le Blanc 1. Lenin2. Lenin's Critics3. His Time and Ours4. Further ReadingLENIN'S SELECTED WRITINGS, 1895-1923I. Marxist Program and Revolutionary Organization1. 1895-6: Draft and Explanation of a Program of the Social Democratic Party 2. 1897-9: The Development of Capitalism in Russia3. 1899: Our Program4. 1899: Our Immediate Task5. 1899: Fuse Socialism with the Workers' MovementII. Birth of Bolshevism6. 1900: The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement7. 1902: What Is To Be Done?8. 1903: To the Rural Poor9. 1904: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Reply to Rosa Luxemburg10. 1904: Against Subordination to LiberalsIII. 1905: Challenges of the Revolutionary Upsurge11. 1905: The Beginning of the Revolution in Russia12. 1905: A Militant Agreement for the Uprising13. 1905: Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution14. 1905: Our Tasks and the Soviet of Workers Deputies 15. 1905: Socialism and ReligionIV. Creation of the Bolshevik Party16. 1906: Freedom to Criticise and Unity of Action17. 1909: Break with Ultra-Left Bolsheviks18. 1912: Final Break with the Mensheviks19. 1914: Report to BrusselsV. Imperialist War, National Liberation, Revolutionary Democracy20. 1913: The Historical Destiny of the Doctrine of Karl Marx21. 1915: Socialism and War 22. 1915: The Revolutionary Proletariat and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination23. 1916: Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism 24. 1917: Statistics and SociologyVI. 1917 Revolution25. 1917: Letters on Tactics 26. 1917: The State and Revolution27. 1917: To the Population: Take Power in Your Own Hands28. 1918: Dissolution of the Constituent AssemblyVII. World Revolution29. 1918: Letter to American Workers30. 1919: The Third International and Its Place in History31. 1920: Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder32. 1921: Speech on Tactics of the Communist International VIII. Reaching for Socialism, Resisting Bureaucracy33. 1919: Tasks of the Working Women's Movement34. 1919: Comments to Congress on Adult Education35. 1920: On the Trade Unions 36. 1921: The Party Crisis 37. 1923: Better Fewer, But Better Index