Paul Le Blanc is a professor of History at La Roche College, has written on and participated in the U.S. labor, radical and civil rights movements, and is author of such books as Marx, Lenin and the Revolutionary Experience, and Lenin and the Revolutionary Party.

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• Introduction 1. Lenin’s Return - introduces Lenin as someone whose relevance for our own time is becoming evident 2. One for the Encyclopedias - offers a succinct account of his life3. Travesties, Statues and Laughter - focuses more on his personality4. Still Kicking: Lenin and His Biographers - how biographers of our century have dealt with him5. Revolutionary Democracy - offers a sustained look at what I believe is the revolutionary-democratic thrust of his thinking and of what he attempted – contrasted to the horrific dictatorship that congealed after his death under Joseph Stalin6. The Great Lenin Debate of 2012 - focuses on recent controversies (in which I was a participant) about how Lenin did and did not go about trying to build a revolutionary party – and it also has something to say about the art and craft of writing history7. Enduring Legacy - takes up some differences with a prominent U.S. Marxist analyst, Charles Post, on how (and how not) to understand “Leninism” 8. Luxemburg and Lenin Through Each Other’s Eyes – explores relationship, common ground, and differences between Luxemburg and Lenin9. Caution: Activists Using Lenin - suggests how Lenin’s approach might be useful to activists in the United States in the early twenty-first century10. Leninism is Unfinished - discusses the open and necessarily unfinished nature of Leninism – reflecting the nature of social reality itself11. The History and Future of Leninism – distinguishes between accurate and inaccurate depictions of the theory and practice of Lenin and his comrades, indicating how this can be utilized and further developed in the twenty-first century.

Paul Le Blanc is a professor of History at La Roche College, has written on and participated in the U.S. labor, radical and civil rights movements, and is author of such books as Marx, Lenin and the Revolutionary Experience, and Lenin and the Revolutionary Party.

Select Guide Rating

• Introduction 1. Lenin’s Return - introduces Lenin as someone whose relevance for our own time is becoming evident 2. One for the Encyclopedias - offers a succinct account of his life3. Travesties, Statues and Laughter - focuses more on his personality4. Still Kicking: Lenin and His Biographers - how biographers of our century have dealt with him5. Revolutionary Democracy - offers a sustained look at what I believe is the revolutionary-democratic thrust of his thinking and of what he attempted – contrasted to the horrific dictatorship that congealed after his death under Joseph Stalin6. The Great Lenin Debate of 2012 - focuses on recent controversies (in which I was a participant) about how Lenin did and did not go about trying to build a revolutionary party – and it also has something to say about the art and craft of writing history7. Enduring Legacy - takes up some differences with a prominent U.S. Marxist analyst, Charles Post, on how (and how not) to understand “Leninism” 8. Luxemburg and Lenin Through Each Other’s Eyes – explores relationship, common ground, and differences between Luxemburg and Lenin9. Caution: Activists Using Lenin - suggests how Lenin’s approach might be useful to activists in the United States in the early twenty-first century10. Leninism is Unfinished - discusses the open and necessarily unfinished nature of Leninism – reflecting the nature of social reality itself11. The History and Future of Leninism – distinguishes between accurate and inaccurate depictions of the theory and practice of Lenin and his comrades, indicating how this can be utilized and further developed in the twenty-first century.