John Marot is an independent scholar and the author of The October Revolution in Prospect and Restrospect.
Ronald Suny has given us the best picture to date of Stalin’s path to the October Revolution. But the story of the future dictator’s early life doesn’t explain the rise of Stalinism. The key developments and choices that produced that system came after the Bolsheviks took power.
Stephen Kotkin aspires to give us the definitive picture of Stalin — and to bury socialism with his crimes. But Kotkin’s political outlook, neglect of ideas, and addiction to hindsight warp his presentation of Russian and Soviet history, undermining his entire project.
Generations of left-wing thinkers have fundamentally misunderstood the young Soviet Union’s New Economic Policy.
Ninety-nine years after the Russian Revolution, let’s free Lenin from distortions of all types.
How should we assess the legacy of Leon Trotsky?