On the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Tariq Ali paints an illuminating portrait of Lenin

Published for the centenary of the Russian Revolution in 2017, this is a brilliant portrait of an exemplary leader and questions why he still matters today.

“Ali encourages the reader to take a fresh look at Lenin’s choices in the context of a repressive autocracy, the poverty and misery of the bulk of the population under tsarism and the industrialised slaughter of the first world war. What underpins his book is the view that October was an ‘innocent and utopian birth’ that was subsequently ‘twisted’ into Stalinism by three devastating years of civil war.”
—Daniel Beer, Guardian

“[The Dilemmas of Lenin] aims to rescue Lenin from both liberal caricature and Soviet hagiography by recovering the realism and dynamism of his political thought.”
—David Sessions, New Republic

“Reading this book on your vacation will make your life better and your mind broader.”
—Branko Milanović

“A powerful tool for those wanting to understand the real Lenin and therefore the real politics behind those revolutionaries who fought so hard but ultimately failed in their goal.”
—Lindsey German, Counterfire

“An incredibly powerful, panoramic, and insightful study of the central revolutionary figure of the twentieth century … The Dilemmas of Lenin helps attentive readers comprehend something of what happened in history, the realities of our time, and how the future could unfold if we approach it with understanding and commitment.”
—Paul Le Blanc, International Socialist Review