Books on Bolshevik revolution, Leninism, Stalinism

Lew Lew at dialogues.demon.co.uk
Fri Jul 31 12:48:27 PDT 1998


In article <199807311636.LAA13475 at homer.dejanews.com>, William S. Lear <rael at dejanews.com> writes


>I'm a bit naive on these topics and I'd like to read some critical
>assessments of them. Chomsky contends (if I remember correctly) that
>the Bolshevik revolution really destroyed the nascent socialism that
>existed in the soviets, and I'm curious to know more about this
>episode. Any suggestions would be welcome...

Chomsky draws heavily on what he calls the "left communist" tradition. The main exponent of this view was Rosa Luxemburg. She wrote a number of critical assessments, many of which can be found in any of her collected works. A similar critique, from within the Bolshevik tradition, was made by the Dutch Marxist, Antonie Pannekoek (see *Pannekoek and the Workers' Councils*, by Serge Bricaner, 1978). He lived in Germany until the revolution, and later became a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam. -- Lew



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