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BIBLIOGRAPHY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FURTHER READINGS
The Selected Works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky; especially The
Communist Manifesto, What Is To Be Done, and Left Wing Communism:
An Infantile Disorder.
Karl Marx, edited by T.B. Bottomore, McGraw Hill Paperbacks.
A good collection of short excerpts on just about everything. A good
introduction to Marx's own thoughts.
The Grundrisse, Karl Marx, edited and translated by David McLellan,
Harper Torchbooks.
Very good for understanding Marx's more sociological insights and
especially those having to do with alienation.
The Formation of the Economic Thought of Karl Marx, Ernest Mandel,
Monthly Review Press.
A rather scholarly tracing of the flow of Marx's thoughts; useful but
difficult.
Human Nature: The Marxian View, Vernon Venable, Meridian Books.
Perhaps the best book for understanding Marxism as a whole theory
of history, succinct and not very difficult to read.
Marxism and The Human Individual, Adam Schaff, McGraw Hill.
A lot of what I think is convoluted apology but also a lot of interesting
ideas on people and politics.
Marx's Theory of Alienation, Istvan Meszaros, Harper Torchbooks.
A very complete and interesting, but also very difficult book. This one
is no introduction.
Lenin: A Study on the Unity of His Thought, Georg Lukacs, MIT Press.
An adoring work that is nonetheless informative and pleasantly quite
concise.
A History of Bolshevism, Arthur Rosenberg, Doubleday Anchor.
A very excellent, perhaps the best, short history of the revolution. A
critical but sympathetic well written account.
The History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky, MacMillan.
Revealing even if not totally comprehensive.
The Russian Revolution, Rosa Luxemburg, University of Michigan Press.
All of Rosa Luxemburg's writings are a cut above almost everyone
else's best. This one is well worth reading and so are the various
collections of her essays; so is Nettl's biography of her.
The Solidarity Pamphlets on Marxism and on the Russian Revolution,
and especially The Bolsheviks and Worker's Control, Maurice Brinton.
All the pamphlets are nice as Solidarity publications are rather
insightful and stimulating. Brinton's booklet is a masterpiece of
research and reasoning that is 'must' reading both for its critique of
the Bolsheviks and for its own general political insights.
The Anarchists on the Russian Revolution and Marxism, especially My
Disillusionment in Russia, by Emma Goldman, Apollo; Memoirs of a
Revolutionary, by Victor Serge, Oxford; and "Listen Marxist" in
Post-Scarcity Anarchism, by Murray Bookchin; and any of Bakunin's,
Berkman's, or Rocker's anti-Marxist essays.
Goldman and Serge give very
readable personal accounts that are
tremendously insightful not only for their politics but also for their
emotional involvement. Bookchin's essay is a biting attack on
Marxism Leninism that is pithy and usually right even if not well
argued at its roots. And the anarchists on Marxism are all fine,
showing their insight, creating good criticism, and also creating good
new political ideas. All this material is worth reading, pleasurable
and easy.
The Russian Anarchists, Paul Avrich, Princeton University Press.
Rather scholarly but interesting including a section on Makhno, on
whom there is not much anywhere.
"The Worker's Opposition," Alexandra Kollontai, Chicago.
A fine firsthand document important for the light it sheds on
opposition to the Bolsheviks and also for its own political worth.
Obsolete Communism: The Left-Wing Alternative, Gabriel and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, McGraw-Hill.
The section on Bolshevism is brief but very fine.
Excellent on the Makhnovites, and on Kronstadt.
History of the Makhnovist Movement, Peter Arshinov, Black and Red, Detroit.
An excellent moving description of the Ukrainian Anarcho-peasant movement.
Particularly Useful in undermining the thesis that the Civil War made "progressivism"
impossible, and in describing Anarchist modes of non-authoritarian organization and
the Bolshevik ways of destroying those same modes.
The Unknown Revolution, Voline, Free Life Editions, New York.
I 'discovered' this book after compositing What Is to Be Undone.
It is a masterpiece: readable, comprehensive and well reasoned. It deals especially
with the period before the Revolution (1825-1905), the period of the 1905 revolt, the
general Anarchist influence in the Revolution, and the Bolshevik dynamics, as well
s the Kronstadt and Makhnovist experiences. Although the book is not good on the
fate of worker's management and the soviets, it is very good on Bolshevik and Anarchist
politics and the flow of the whole revolution. The book is similar though not as fully
elaborated as ours and goes beyond it in explaining the positive aspects of the Anarchist
programs and the fierceness of the Bolshevik repression.
The Collected Works of Chairman Mao, Mao Tse-Tung, People's Publishing House.
The Little Red Book, Mao Tse-Tung edited by Lin Piao, People's Publishing House.
A lot of wisdom in a little space. If you can't read him in the large, it's worth reading him in the small.
The Chinese Road to Socialism, Wheelwright and McFarlane, Monthly Review Press.
A very good book despite it's being repetitive. The documentation,
analysis, and politics are all very good. It is about the best book for
developing a fairly quick understanding of the whole of the Chinese
revolutionary experience.
Red Star Over China, Edgar Snow, Grove Press.
A 'classic' on the early years of the revolution with interesting conversations interspersed.
The Yenan Way in Revolutionary China, Mark Selden, Harvard Univ. Press.
A detailed work on the nature of the Red Base areas in North China.
Fanshen, William Hinton, Monthly Review Press.
A mammoth book of mammoth value. A chronicle of the revolution
in a rural village. An excellent look at what the old society was like
and at what the revolution meant in human terms. If you read one
book on China this should be it - but no one should read just one.
Ideology and Organization in Communist China, Franz Schurmann,
University of California Press.
I think this may be the longest book I've ever bought. It is hard
reading and literally immense. But if you're interested in detail and
can read a little at a time for a long time, then this book is worthwhile.
Important Documents on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in
China, Foreign Languages Press.
Report to the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China,
Lin Piao, Foreign Languages Press.
Very interesting for its content and also because it is an actual party
document.
The Cultural Revolution in China, Joan Robinson, Penguin Books.
The first book on the topic and still one of the best. Very clear with a
good introduction.
Shanghai Journal, Neale Hunter, Beacon Press.
A fascinating account of how the cultural revolution actually went on
in China's biggest city. It explains a lot, not only about what
happened but also about where the Chinese people are now. It gives a
very balanced and honest view.
Turning Point in China, William Hinton, Monthly Review Press.
The Maoist line of the Cultural Revolution. Very readable, very
informative, and rather good politics. The best available analytic
material on the topic.
"Interview on the Cultural Revolution" with Chris Milton, New England
Free Press.
A very nice, simple commentary showing what it felt like from a
young boy's perspective.
"Leninism and Maoism: Some Populist Perspectives on Marxism
Leninism," Maurice Meisner appearing in the China Quarterly, Jan.-March, 1971. #45.
A well-argued essay that largely follows the
line taken in this book.
Anarchism, Daniel Guerin, Monthly Review Press.
A very good summary analysis of the various trends in anarchist
thought. Well worth reading despite a little too much emphasis on
Max Stirner.
Anarchism and Other Essays, Emma Goldman, Kennikat Press.
Very clear, very concise, and very good.
The Political Philosophy of Bakunin: Scientific Anarchism, edited by G.
P. Maxirnov, Glenco, Illinois.
This is a collection of excerpts. It's very fine but more difficult than
reading full essays, though more comprehensive.
Bakunin on Anarchy, edited by Sam Dolgoff, Vintage Books.
A little easier to read because of the layout but otherwise similar to
Maximov's work though less comprehensive.
Anarchy, Errico Malatesta, London.
A biography and a collection of excerpts. Excellent because
Malatesta, of all the anarchists, is the clearest and most relevant to
our modern situation.
Anarcho-Syndicalism, Rudolf Rocker, London.
A relatively unknown classic. The best on its topic.
Collected Writings of P.J. Proudhon, edited by Stuart Edwards,
Anchor Books.
Primarily good for the scholar interested in the roots of anarchism or
in Proudhon himself.
What is Communist Anarchism? Alexander Berkman, Dover Publications.
A very comprehensive easy to read introduction to all aspects of
anarchist thought with sections on analysis of capitalism, anarchist
goals, anarchist methods, and the Russian Revolution.
Mutual Aid, Peter Kropotkin, Porter Sargent Publisher.
A theoretic argument about the goodness of humanity based on
evolutionary analysis. Like all Kropotkin's works, it is very readable,
warm, and intelligent.
Kropotkin's Revolutionary Pamphlets (two volumes), MIT Press.
Excellent material on just about everything from analysis to goals to
strategy. Beautifully written. Each essay is self-contained so it is a
great book for people who like to read a little at a time but like that
little to be complete unto itself.
The Anarchists, edited by lrving Horowitz, Dell Publishing.
A fine collection of relatively short essays from a large number of
anarchist sources. A good overview.
Anarchism, George Woodcock, Meridian Books.
A good history with very nice biographical analytic sketches of many
major anarchists.
The Anarchists, James Joll, Universal Library.
Same as Woodcock's but a little deeper and I think a little better.
Lessons of the Spanish Revolution, Vernon Richards, Freedom Press.
Excellent for developing an understanding of the events, and even
more important for its anarchist views, and its critique of the way the
Spanish anarchists fell short of their own ideological perspectives.
The New Student Left, edited by Mitchell Cohen and Dennis Hale, Beacon
Press.
A very fine collection of early new left writing, well worth reading for
its on-going value and also for an understanding of the new left.
Especially good are the excerpts from the Port Huron Statement, an
essay by Stokely Carmichael, and a speech by Carl Oglesby - all of
which are new left classics.
Up Against the Ivy Wall, Jerry Avorn, Atheneum Books.
Good as a chronicle of the Columbia struggle, for understanding the
student movement, and for understanding something about Mark
Rudd and the roots of the Weathermen.
Student Power, edited by Alexander Cockburn and Robin Blackburn,
Penguin Books.
Difficult but informative campus oriented articles.
Soul On Ice, Eldridge Cleaver, Delta Books.
A must for understanding racism and the Panthers. Beautifully
written, it is one of the new left's major works.
Eldridge Cleaver, edited by Robert Scheer, Ramparts Books.
A well written collection of Cleaver's essays and speeches showing the
politics of the time and also the progression of Cleaver's own politics
and personality.
Conversations With Eldridge Cleaver, Lee Lockwood, Delta.
A very warm little book that has the politics of its time and reflects
Cleaver at his best.
Blood in My Eye, George Jackson, Random House.
A too "violent" book that nonetheless shows where many of the
Panthers politically wound up. Reading this after reading George's
brilliant first book of prison letters teaches a great deal.
"The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm," Anne Koedt; "Politics of
Housework," Pat Naimandi; "Families," Linda Gordon; "Women: The
Longest Revolution," Juliet Mitchell; and "Liberation of Women: Sexual
Repression and the Family," Laurel Limpus. All New England Free Press
Pamphlets.
A fine collection of women's new left writings that shows the basis of
their movement; these writings have value also for their contributions to leftist thought.
Sisterhood is Powerful, edited by Robin Morgan, Vintage Books.
The best available collection on the women's movement and on
sexism.
The New Radicals, Paul Jacobs and Saul Landau, Vintage Books.
A good history with an interesting section on SNCC.
The New Left Reader, edited by Carl Oglesby, Grove Press.
An intellectual collection good for understanding the politics of the
new left and good also for understanding some politics that go beyond
what the new left practices. Especially nice are the essays by Oglesby,
Kolakowski, Castro, and Deutschke.
The New Revolutionaries, edited by Tariq Ali, William Morrow Books.
A fairly heavy collection with overall good insights.
Prelude to Revolution, Daniel Singer, Hill and Wang.
A fine analysis of the 1968 French uprising relevant to understanding
the new left and to critiquing it. Readable and worthwhile.
Mass Psychology of Fascism, Wilhelm Reich, Noonday Press.
Useful for the general problem of creating psychological insights with
applicability; particularly useful for the task of understanding the
place of sexual repression and authoritarian personality traits in the
dynamics of Fascism. A very important book, well worth reading.
Sex-Pol, Wilhelm Reich, edited by Lee Baxandall, Vintage Books.
Very good, especially the essay "What is Class Consciousness" which
should be must reading for the left.
Character Analysis and The Sexual Revolution, Wilhelm Reich,
Noonday Press.
Useful for developing a better understanding of the dynamics of
human nature and human personality, especially concerning the role
of sex needs in each.
Toward a Psychology of Being and Motivation and Personality, Abraham
Maslow, Van Nostrand.
Very good for forming a psychological picture that is easily usable by
political activists, also clear and readable.
On Becoming a Person, Carl Rogers, Houghton Mifflin Company.
Good for general understandings of personality change and also for
insights it gives into possible methodologies of internal movement
growth efforts. Also very readable and clear though a bit repetitious.
Post-Scarcity Anarchism, Murray Bookchin, Ramparts Books.
A lot of creative thinking about goals and methods with emphasis on
ecology.
Workers' Councils, Anton Pannekoek, Root and Branch.
An important short exposition of the ideas of Council Communism.
Easy to read, clear, and a fine example of Marxist thought that goes
beyond Classical weaknesses, especially those of the Leninist 'Party
worshipers.'
Transition to Socialism, Paul Sweezy and Charles Bettelheim, Monthly
Review Press.
An important, but in many places muddled, contribution to the
problems or creating a successful revolutionary transition in an advanced Capitalist society.
Monopoly Capital, Baran and Sweezy, Monthly Review Press.
A good first work effort at understanding the dynamics of the United
States. Very much worth reading.
The Sick Society, Michael Tanzer, Holt Rinehart and Winston.
A fine study of the United States with chapters on the economy,
political power, overseas involvement, racism, alienation, crises, and
prospects for America. I think this will soon be a left text.
Counter Revolution and Revolt, Herbert Marcuse, Beacon Press.
A lot of interesting thoughts on strategy and overall perspective.
An Essay on Liberation, Herbert Marcuse, Beacon Press.
A difficult but fine work essentially on human nature and
revolutionary goals.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire, Herder and Herder.
Enlightening on consciousness and methods of education but very
difficult to read -- a peculiar combination of insight about
communication, and poor style for communicating.
False Promises, Stanley Aronowitz, McGraw-Hill Book Company.
A modern Council Communist perspective with improvements due to
better cultural and psychological insights. One of the finest recent
United States contributions to revolutionary analysis.
Strike, Jeremy Brecher, Rolling Stone Press.
A good history of United States working-class struggle with emphasis
on the roles spontaneity and worker self-organization have played.
Strategy for Labor, Andre Gorz, Beacon Press
A modern discussion of revolutionary possibilities and of the role of
reform struggles within a revolutionary process.
Socialism and Revolution, Andre Gorz, Anchor Books
Wide ranging essays on the problems of revolutionary strategy and
socialist practice. Excellent throughout.
The Fiscal Crisis of the State, James O'Connor, St. Martin's Press.
A very detailed and well researched description of the modern
American political economy and some of its major internal
contradictions. Hard to read.
There are a number of books by neo-Marxists coming out of East Europe.
They generally deal with problems of human nature, alienation,
bureaucracy, and the need for a humanization of Marxist practice. Two
that I've liked are Svetozar Stojanovic's Between Ideas and Reality,
Oxford University Press; and Gajo Petrovic's Marx in the Mid Twentieth
Century, Doubleday Anchor Books. Also important, however, and
discussed in What Is To Be Undone, is Mihailo Markovic's From Affluence
to Praxis, University of Michigan Press.
Antonio Gramsci and the Origins of Italian Communism, John M.
Cammett, Stanford University Press.
This is the classic biography of Gramsci and admirably includes his
ideas, integrated into the historical situations he confronted.
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