Customer Reviews

From Lenin to Stalin

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This book is an excellent introduction to what happened from the Lenin to Stalin years in the USSR. Anyone who's curious how a country meant to turn into a Socialist Democracy became a Totalitarian Tyranny will want to read this book! This book enlightens the reader on how that country was corrupted by Stalin, and it also attacks some of the myths spread about the Bolsheviks which are still propagated today ( the German gold idea, for instance ). For those who think that Stalinism is the natural outcome of Bolshevism, read this book; It dispels the myth. This book should be complemented later by books by Trotsky and Isaac Deutscher's biographical trilogy about Lenin's second-in-command as well, but all in all, a great book to start with for understanding the Russian Revolution.

This is one book title that really gives the reader an accurate picture of its contents! Once again, Pathfinder Press has given the interested reader and student of history a first person account filled with primary source materials of a revolution. The author, Victor Serge, was a contemporary revolutionary of Lenin and Leon Trotsky and watched the counter-revolution of Stalin from the inside.
As Serge says, "Everything has changed." He takes us from the days of the textile workers strike in Petrograd on the eve of the Russian Revolution to the debates over strategies and tactics of the Spanish Civil War. One of the most compelling essays is The Condition of Women." Here Serge details the lot of thousands of young women as prostitutes, and the anti-woman legislation of the Stalinist Soviet Union. Serge writes, "the freedom of abortion, a capital conquest of the revolution, ceased to exist in the summer of 1935."
This book is a unique look at the Russian Revolution and its betrayal. It is well worth picking up.

From internationalism, working people's democracy and revolution to nationalism, bureaucratic totalitarianism, and counter-revolution: in essence, that was the difference in the system of Lenin and that of Stalin.

The revolution's rise, stagnation, and betrayal come to life in this remarkable book by Victor Serge, a participant and leader of the 1917 revolution. Working people and those favoring the interests of humanity's exploited classes can learn much.

Victor Serge comes through in this book as a very strong writer. He leaves no doubt about his opinions. He admired Lenin and thought very little of Stalin.

Victor was a Russian revolutionary. He supported the notion of Communism and the eventual evolution of the Workingman State. Unfortunately Stalin came along and Victor - along with numerous other individuals - went to prison in the purge of the 1930's. He has written several books about the Russian Revolution, novels and non fiction and about his experiences in prison. He managed to get out of prison and out of Russia by 1936.

This is a "quick" book. It contains many, many names and a bevy of incidences that I am not familiar with. But what is clear is that Victor knows what he is talking about - even if I don't. He knows who the heroes were and who the traitors were. A sense of straight forward honesty permeates this book. Victor was obviously a consciences and sincere individual. I know nothing about this man except what I have read in this book and that is what I find so interesting. I presume that his books were originally written in Russian but this man's power, intellect and honesty come rushing through. I am interested in how a writer can accomplish that.

I intend to read more of Mr. Serge.

I presume that it must be his "insider" approach to the Russian Revolution - but it is more than that. I have been reading Leon Trotsky's account and I have not been impressed in the same way - certainly Leon Trotsky was on the inside also. Victor makes me want to read more and Leon is a challenge. One has to have a strong desire to learn about the Russian Revolution to want to wade through Leon Trotsky - but Serge was quick and easy. Of course there is a big difference in the size of the two books. But nevertheless, I want to read more of Serge while Leon sits on the shelf gathering dust. I do intend to finish Leon's account ... just as I intend to finish "The Fall of the Roman Empire," "War and Peace," and "Crime and Punishment."

With Serge's account I'm impressed by the strong feel of getting a real intelligent look at what was happening. I've been reading "Ten Days that Shook the World" by John Reed also - and I don't get that Serge feel. Maybe it is because John Reed was an American. I don't know.

Stalin, unfortunately, was a real tragedy for the world labor movement and the Russian people. But Stalin was typical of most revolutions. George Washington is looking better and better every day. In fact that whole band of American Revolutionaries is looking very, very impressive. What happened here in the United States seems to be very rare historically - very rare indeed.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"America on Strike" American Labor - History