Description
Written by Lenin in 1917, in the midst of the Russian Revolution, The State and Revolution is one of the classics of Marxism. In it, Lenin re-establishes the authentic teaching of Marx and Engels on the question of the state, the institution at the heart of all political struggle. He clarifies the essential nature of the capitalist state as the essential stronghold and ultimate defender of the whole system of privilege and exploitation. He explains how it must be destroyed by the working class in the process of the revolution, and how the victorious workers must construct a new state of their own, but one which during the period of transition to full communism gradually withers away as social classes and the class struggle itself gradually wither away. This modern edition contains an introduction by Doug Lorimer placing Lenin’s work in its historical and political context, along with extensive notes.