[PEN-L:400] Re: Books on Bolshevik revolution, Leninism, Stalinism

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:30 AM 7/31/98 -0500, Bill Lear wrote:
>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...

The very best thing is unfortunately out of print and that is Isaac
Deutscher's biography of Trotsky. Also recommended is the E.H. Carr series
on the Soviet Union. The latest work, which I am a big fan of, is Moshe
Lewin's "Russia--USSR--Russia." Trotsky's "Revolution Betrayed" is also
very good. Also anything by Victor Serge, a Trotskyist who became an
anarchist. You will find some themes in his work that echo Chomsky.
Finally, I recommend CLR James's book on the Third International.

Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)