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Vladimir Lenin
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What Is to Be Done Textbook Binding – January 1, 2000

Russian Edition by V.I. Lenin (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 54 ratings
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  1. Language
    Russian
  2. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  3. Publication date
    January 1, 2000
  4. ISBN-10
    0198156170
  5. ISBN-13
    978-0198156178
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2000
  • Language ‏ : ‎ Russian
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198156170
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198156178
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 pounds
  • Best Sellers Rank: #1,326 in Communism & Socialism (Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 54 ratings

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Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

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4.3 out of 5 stars
54 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • David B.
    3.0 out of 5 stars Kindle edition is a bad choice for this book
    Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Several problems. Most significant may be peculiar to the Kindle edition that I purchased. Frequently words seemed to have been dropped between page breaks. Second, lots of gaps--blank spaces--which were disconcerting. The flow across these gaps was ok, but one worried that something might be missing. Translation seemed a bit stilted, to the point where it was sometimes difficult to figure out exactly what Comrade Lenin was trying to say; but perhaps the original was ambiguous. Finally, a personal preference. I like footnotes much better than end notes. There are footnotes, but mostly end notes, which are difficult to access, especially in a Kindle edition.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Jingles Mom
    1.0 out of 5 stars Scam!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2017
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    Not a book! Just a front page with no words printed inside. Please amazon, take this off the kindle store.
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  • Alfred Johnson
    4.0 out of 5 stars BURNING ISSUES OF OUR MOVEMENT, INDEED
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2006
    Every militant who wants to fight for socialism, or put the fight for socialism back on the front burner, needs to read this book. Every radical who believes that society can be changed by just a few adjustments needs to read this book in order to understand the limits of such a position. Thus, it is necessary for any politically literate person of this new generation to go through the arguments of this classic of Marxist literature in order to understand the strategic perspective for socialism in the 21st century. Older militants can also benefit from a re-reading of this work. Except for the obvious change of names and organizations from those whom Lenin argued with on my re-reading of this document I was astonished by the appropriateness of the arguments presented.

    Militants of my generation, the Generation of `68, came late to an appreciation of the importance of this book and spent a lot of wasted time and energy on other strategies. Those so-called New Left theories that ran the gamut from mild social reform through vicarious guerilla warfare to revolutionary terror had, however, one common axis- denial of the centrality of the working class as the motor force for revolution, especially in the advanced capitalist countries. Once the most thoughtful of us came understand the bankruptcy of our previous strategies Lenin's little book became compulsory reading. Lenin's What Is To Be Done? thus takes it place as one of the basic documents of the revolutionary Marxist movement along with Marx and Engel's Communist Manifesto.

    Although the book was written to address the disputes among socialists at the beginning of the 20th century the arguments presented have relevance today. And what are those arguments. There are three main points which are interrelated; the need for a fight against a reformist and for a revolutionary perspective to fight to the end for establishment of a socialist order; the need for a revolutionary organization of professional revolutionaries to lead the vanguard of the working class to socialism; and, the necessity for an independent-minded vanguard both in its relationship to the some times backward political consciousness of the working class as a whole and to other social classes. Although the political opponents that Lenin was polemizing against, and this document is a polemic, are long gone and his literary style would not be to today's taste these were and continue to be the defining issues of revolutionary strategy today.

    After the experience of one hundred years of reformist socialist practice under capitalism it is hard to believe that the fight against such a limitation of the socialist program was a central argument that animated not only the Russian revolutionary movement but the international social democracy as well. The fight against revision of the Marxist program of class struggle and the need to fundamentally change the structure of society that began in that period seeped into the Russian movement as well. It was therefore necessary to polemize against this trend. Lenin, and others, rose to the occasion. Their argument, in short, was- Do you fight to the finish against the old social order or not? In Lenin's case we know the answer. Readers can decide for themselves whether he was right.

    The controversy over kind of organization necessary to lead the masses to socialism has been present since at least the 1800's. The forms have varied over time from self-contained revolutionary conspiracies to revolutionary terrorist cells to mass reformist parties confined to the parliamentary struggle. Lenin brought a new concept to the organization question among Marxists not only for Russia but also after the seizure of power in 1917 in the Communist International for international strategy. Simply put, if you do not want to make a revolution you do not need a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries. Moreover, these revolutionaries act as tribunes of the people fighting against all kinds of arbitrary action. If you do want to make a revolution, you need to address the organization question. The challenge is not to get caught up in the form. One thing is certain you cannot fight to the end against capitalism with a party that has two wings- reformist and revolutionary. Come the struggle for power and you have former comrades on different sides of the barricade. Study this question with care.

    At that time Lenin wrote (1902) the question of what classes will lead the revolution and what forces will it rely on was a central question, especially in the Russian socialist movement. In the West at the time it was obvious that the working class was the central agency and that it would rely on the urban and rural petty bourgeoisies. In Russia, however, which had not experienced some form of bourgeois revolution, the central dispute did not get resolved until October 1917 when the Bolsheviks relying on the peasantry, and especially the declassed peasant soldier resolved the issue. The results, of that victory, as they say, are the subject for another discussion. What is noteworthy here is how skeptical Lenin was of the liberal bourgeoisie this early in the pre-revolutioary period as any kind of ally in the revolutionary struggle. That skepticism should be a signpost for today's militants. No, this should be etched in every militant's brain. Ally with whoever you can over democratic issues (as long as you retain freedom of criticism) but you must in the current American reality break with the Democratic Party- party of the liberal bourgeoisie This is one of the political textbooks you need to read if you want to change the world. Read it.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • "umd_cyberpunk"
    3.0 out of 5 stars Burning Question, Where is my Editor?
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2001
    The theortical political book of V.I. Lenin.
    The place where Lenin put forth his concepts on, the role of the revolutionary, the difference between the Bolshevics (before this name applied) and the Political Economists. The need for the over-throw of the royal family and the current (at the time) political system of Russia. Also the theories of the revolutionary newspaper, information, and what revolutionaries should do for the movement.
    A very thick little book. The concepts of who may become a revolutionary and what parts of the populace should be tapped are all included in this piece.
    The major flaw is the fact that one must work very hard to figure out what Lenin is trying to say. There is so much diversion and unclear thinking that one is not surprised to find out that Lenin never dearmed of seeing the revolution within his own life time. He must have thought that nobody would be able to get through his book before he would die of very old age.
    Interesting for the sake of political history and revolutionary theory alone. Nobody in their right mind would read this book unless they were being required to do so. On the other hand, they might just be happy that they had been forced to read this book, because there really is a lot there (if you are willing to dig far enough).
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Geoff
    3.0 out of 5 stars It’s nice that the author shared his thoughts.
    Reviewed in Canada on February 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I liked the flow of the author’s thoughts and will use the book’s contents as ammunition against all those hoity toity Mensheviks who insist on monopolizing the library’s one good computer. Damn them anyway.
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  • Harry Donaghy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Great addition to politics section of home collection! Thank you seller.
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