The 1917 Russian Revolution was the most significant event of the 20th century. The taking of power by the Russian working class under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky transformed the course of human history and reverberates to this day.
Between February and October 1917 Russia was shaken by two monumental revolutions. The first overthrew the Romanov aristocracy that had ruled for more than 300 years. The second overthrew the bourgeois Provisional Government and established the first socialist workers state in history.
These events continue to generate debate and controversy. The essays in these two volumes are unique in that they are written from a Marxist perspective looking back from the vantage point of 100 years and putting the events of 1917 in a contemporary perspective under conditions of a world wracked by immense social and political contradictions.
Volume 2 contains the final four lectures in the series:
Lenin’s The State and Revolution by Barry Grey
On the Eve of Revolution: The Bolshevik Party, Factory Committees, and the Mass Movement of the Working Class by Tom Carter
Lessons of October: The Political Crisis within the Bolshevik Party on the Eve of the Seizure of Power by Chris Marsden
The Place of the October Revolution in World History and Contemporary Politics by David North