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 1 contains the first five lectures in the series:
Why Study the Russian Revolution? by David North
The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution by Fred Williams
War and Revolution: 1914-1917 by Nick Beams
Spontaneity and Consciousness in the February Revolution by Joseph Kishore
Lenin’s Return to Russia and the April Theses by James Cogan