Stalinism

Gorbachev: the bureaucrat who opened Pandora’s Box

The last Soviet leader discovered the most dangerous time for a bad government is when it begins to reform, writes Sean Ledwith
The struggle against Stalinism: Trotsky's Marxism - video

Vladimir Unkovski-Korica looks at Trotsky's writings on the betrayal of the Russian revolution, his critique of Stalin and the concept of socialism in one country
The importance of Leon Trotsky

Chris Bambery explores the revolutionary life and ideas of Leon Trotsky and their relevance to the struggle today
Lenin 150 (Samizdat) - book review

Lenin 150 (Samizdat)is a welcome collection of articles and pieces on Lenin by authors from around the world which asserts the importance of his political legacy, finds Chris Bambery
The Communist Movement at a Crossroads: Plenums of the Communist International’s Executive Committee, 1922-1923 - book review

The newly available records of the Comintern Executive Committee from 1922-23 show the importance of the organisation before its later Stalinisation, argues Chris Bambery
Did Lenin inevitably lead to Stalin?

There was nothing inevitable about the grotesque transformation of Russia’s fledgeling workers’ state into Stalin’s Soviet Union, explains John Westmoreland in the third of his three-part series
Government funds for anti-Corbyn group a hint of things to come

The smearing of Jeremy Corbyn by a group taking money from the Home Office is only to be expected, argues Josh Newman
A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee - book review

An American socialist’s memoir of his life in East Germany overturns many standard assumptions about the contrasts of West and East, finds Dominic Alexander
Fighting fascism: what we can learn today from the tragedy of the 1930s

To stop a violent movement set on crushing democracy and the left, we must begin by building a mass united front of the working class, writes Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
Neither Washington Nor Moscow: origins and applying it today

David Bush looks at what a slogan developed during World War 2 and crystallized as a position during the Cold War means for socialists in the 21st century
The Dictator, the Revolution, the Machine: A Political Account of Joseph Stalin

Tony McKenna’s compelling Marxist biography of Stalin disproves the allegation that October 1917 led directly to the dictator’s atrocities, argues Sean Ledwith
5 things Orlando Figes got wrong about the Russian Revolution on BBC Newsnight

Orlando Figes was enlisted by the BBC to trash the history of the Russian Revolution. In the run-up to Saturday's Revolution 1917 event, Chris Nineham corrects some matters of fact
Why has the Royal Academy airbrushed Trotsky out of history?

The exhibition, celebrating Russian art from the revolutionary period, is missing a huge part of the story, argues Judy Cox
Must revolution always mean catastrophe?

Neither Cromwell, nor Robespierre, nor Lenin, could become an icon or avatar for the reactionary regimes they helped to overthrow, but Stalin was different argues Bill Bowring
Year One of the Russian Revolution

Victor Serge’s contemporary account is a critical but essential defence of the Bolsheviks’ efforts to save the gains of the revolution, argues Richard Allday
1956: Hungary's lost revolution

The 21st century anti-capitalist movement owes a debt to the heroic and inspiring working-class uprisings in Hungary 60 years ago, argues Sean Ledwith
Berlin: the wall that came down and the walls that went up

John Rees was reporting from Berlin 25 years ago as the demonstrations which brought down the Stalinist dictatorship reached their peak. Here he reflects on the consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall
A breath of fresh air

Mark Perryman reviews an exceptionally strong list of autumn political reading
Lukacs after Leninism

Georg Lukacs was arguably the most important Marxist political philosopher since Marx. His theoretical work is a vital reference point in the 20th century revolutionary tradition

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Stalinism

Stalinism

The last Soviet leader discovered the most dangerous time for a bad government is when it begins to reform, writes Sean Ledwith

Vladimir Unkovski-Korica looks at Trotsky's writings on the betrayal of the Russian revolution, his critique of Stalin and the concept of socialism in one country

Chris Bambery explores the revolutionary life and ideas of Leon Trotsky and their relevance to the struggle today

Lenin 150 (Samizdat)is a welcome collection of articles and pieces on Lenin by authors from around the world which asserts the importance of his political legacy, finds Chris Bambery

The newly available records of the Comintern Executive Committee from 1922-23 show the importance of the organisation before its later Stalinisation, argues Chris Bambery

There was nothing inevitable about the grotesque transformation of Russia’s fledgeling workers’ state into Stalin’s Soviet Union, explains John Westmoreland in the third of his three-part series

The smearing of Jeremy Corbyn by a group taking money from the Home Office is only to be expected, argues Josh Newman

An American socialist’s memoir of his life in East Germany overturns many standard assumptions about the contrasts of West and East, finds Dominic Alexander

To stop a violent movement set on crushing democracy and the left, we must begin by building a mass united front of the working class, writes Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

David Bush looks at what a slogan developed during World War 2 and crystallized as a position during the Cold War means for socialists in the 21st century

Tony McKenna’s compelling Marxist biography of Stalin disproves the allegation that October 1917 led directly to the dictator’s atrocities, argues Sean Ledwith

Orlando Figes was enlisted by the BBC to trash the history of the Russian Revolution. In the run-up to Saturday's Revolution 1917 event, Chris Nineham corrects some matters of fact

The exhibition, celebrating Russian art from the revolutionary period, is missing a huge part of the story, argues Judy Cox

Neither Cromwell, nor Robespierre, nor Lenin, could become an icon or avatar for the reactionary regimes they helped to overthrow, but Stalin was different argues Bill Bowring

Victor Serge’s contemporary account is a critical but essential defence of the Bolsheviks’ efforts to save the gains of the revolution, argues Richard Allday

The 21st century anti-capitalist movement owes a debt to the heroic and inspiring working-class uprisings in Hungary 60 years ago, argues Sean Ledwith

John Rees was reporting from Berlin 25 years ago as the demonstrations which brought down the Stalinist dictatorship reached their peak. Here he reflects on the consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall

Mark Perryman reviews an exceptionally strong list of autumn political reading

Georg Lukacs was arguably the most important Marxist political philosopher since Marx. His theoretical work is a vital reference point in the 20th century revolutionary tradition