Following the generation of Marx and Engels, Karl Kautsky was the leading theorist, interpreter, and popularizer of Marxism. In numerous publications he fought against Eduard Bernstein's revisionism and Rosa Luxemburg's radicalism. In the last two decades of his life he was a bitter enemy of Leninism. Karl Kautsky: Marxism, Revolution, and Democracy consists of six chapters about Karl Kautsky, all written by his grandson. It includes specialized studies of certain aspects of the theorist's political thought as well as his role in politics.The chapters cover such topics as the divergent views of Lenin and Kautsky on the role of intellectuals in the labor movement, Kautsky's complex concept of revolution as it emerges notably from his book The Road to Power, and Kautsky's thoughts on imperialism. An introductory essay explores the consistency of Kautsky's ideas and comments on his relevance today.The recent demise of communism in the Soviet Union again brings the question of the relation between communism and Marxism to the forefront of political theory. Kautsky's essays shed new light on this controversial and timely subject. Karl Kautsky: Marxism, Revolution, and Democracy will be an important resource for scholars of political science, political theory, sociology, and European history.
