Books by Vladimir Lenin

Those seeking a handle on the nature of modern capitalism and war, can do no better than to start with this incisive analysis by Lenin - it still applies, writ large, today.Ideologically a Marxist, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, (better known as Lenin), wrote copiously on political and economic systems, passionately believing in the need for a total rejection of capitalism by the proletariat worldwide.Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism looks at how Western capitalism in the mid-1800s transitioned inexorably from small businesses competing with one another into huge monopolies that concentrated labour, industry, natural resources and bank finance. Competition, a core element of capitalism, was a casualty of this process and most of the profits went to a top strata of society. Because the system was inherently growth-driven, the powerful oligarchy of financiers, industrialists and governments sought new prospects outside of their native countries in the form of a territorial 'land grab' backed by military might. This last inexorable stage of capitalism saw the world's undeveloped countries carved up between the likes of Great Britain, France and Germany and was, in Lenin's view, the very essence of imperialism, a state of affairs to be countered at all costs.

Vladimir Lenin created this hugely significant Marxist text to explain fully the inevitable flaws and destructive power of Capitalism: that it would lead unavoidably to imperialism, monopolies and colonialism. He prophesied that those third world countries used merely as capitalist labour would have no choice but to join the Communist revolution in Russia. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Lenin escribió el libro ¿Qué hacer? Problemas candentes de nuestro movimiento a fines de 1901 y comienzos de 1902.Iskra publicó en diciembre, en el número 12, el artículo de Lenin Una conversación con los defensores del economismo, al que denominó posteriormente esbozo de ¿Qué hacer? Lenin escribió en febrero de 1902 el prefacio del libro y éste vio la luz a comienzos de marzo, en Stuttgart, publicado por la editorial de Dietz, según informó Iskra el 10 de marzo de 1902, en su número 18.El libro ¿Qué hacer? desempeñó un relevante papel en la lucha por la creación del partido marxista revolucionario de la clase obrera de Rusia, en el triunfo de la tendencia leninista-iskrista en los comités y organizaciones del POSDR y, más tarde, en su Congreso de 1903. El libro adquirió gran difusión en 1902 y 1903 entre las organizaciones socialdemócratas de Rusia.Esta edición especial en tapa blanda también incluye el texto "¿Por dónde empezar?", fuente de inspiración de este libro.

"This transformation of competition into monopoly is one of the most important - if not the most important - phenomena of modern capitalist economy."During the First World War, Lenin found himself isolated, but he was not afraid to fight against the stream. He dedicated all his strength to educating and training the Bolsheviks on the basis of the genuine ideas of Marxism. His masterpiece, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, is an immortal monument to his work in the vital field of theory.No book has ever explained the phenomena of modern capitalism better. Indeed, all of Lenin's predictions concerning the concentration of capital, the dominance of the banks and finance capital, the growing antagonism between nation states and the inevitability of war arising out of the contradictions of imperialism have been shown to be true by the entire history of the last 100 years.The Communist Manifesto already explains that free competition inevitably gives rise to monopoly and the concentration of capital in a few giant enterprises. However, this process did not culminate during the life time of Marx and Lenin was in a position to analyse it in great details. Using the vast amount of statistics at his disposal, he outlines this process.Lenin further explains that in the stage of imperialist monopoly capitalism, the entire economy is under the domination of the banks and finance capital. Today, over one hundred years after it was first published, this domination is 100 times greater. Lenin's text therefore stands as required reading for anyone fighting to change society.