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Rating: 
Summary: Marxism in practice!
Review: I think this is an amazing book which displays the application of Marxist theory to the real world. In reading, I found it extremely helpful in clearing up the contradictions ahout Lenin I'd held onto for so long. Tony Cliff's analysis, true to Marxist principles, shows how the revolutionary movement was shaped by the struggle. It shows that Lenin's ideas weren't just bright ideas that popped into his head, but the result of a process including open debate and active participation in the struggle. Overall, Tony Cliff gives a positive view of the kind of open, democratic principles which served as the framework for the Russian Revolution and provides a sharp contrast to the distorted picture of an authoritarian and elitist Lenin we're usually shown.This book is absolutely ESSENTIAL reading for anyone interested in building a revolutionary organization and it provides plenty of hope for those who wish to see a world in which decisions are made based on human need instead of profit.
Rating:
Summary: Great Biography on Lenin
Review: This is a great biography on Vladimir Lenin, focusing on his early years. It chronicles Lenin's youth and the history of the early Marxist movement in tsarist Russia. Later chapters focus on his efforts to craft an effective revolutionary party. This book is chock full of information, but is still very engaging. It is pretty down to earth and doesn't make use of high-falutin language wherever possible. Compare reading this book to the official Stalinist biography of Lenin, or those put forward by right-wing cranks. Overall, this is a must-read for all activists, especially socialists. I highly recommend this book to people with an interest in politics.
Rating:
Summary: Great Biography on Lenin
Review: This is a great biography on Vladimir Lenin, focusing on his early years. It chronicles Lenin's youth and the history of the early Marxist movement in tsarist Russia. Later chapters focus on his efforts to craft an effective revolutionary party. This book is chock full of information, but is still very engaging. It is pretty down to earth and doesn't make use of high-falutin language wherever possible. Compare reading this book to the official Stalinist biography of Lenin, or those put forward by right-wing cranks. Overall, this is a must-read for all activists, especially socialists. I highly recommend this book to people with an interest in politics.
Rating:
Summary: Political Biography
Review: This work is a politcal biography, in the sense that the major focus is on Lenin's revolutionary activities - specifically in building and organizing the Bolsheivik party - in the years before the first World War. The beauty of this book is that it exposes the "sacred capitalist myth" that ascribes the Marx-Lenin-Stalin progression as one that arises naturally. In 'Building the Party' we see Lenin not as a rutheless bloodthirsty dictator but rather as a brilliant tactical organizer and one of the foremost intellectual-revolutionaries of the Twentieth Century
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