"Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is among the most enigmatic and influential figures of the twentieth century. While his life and work are crucial to any understanding of modern history and the socialist movement, generations of writers on the left and the right have seen fit to embalm him endlessly with superficial analysis or dreary dogma. Now, after the fall of the Soviet Union and 'actually-existing' socialism, it is possible to consider Lenin afresh, with sober senses trained on his historical context and how it shaped his theoretical and political contributions. Reconstructing Lenin, four decades in the making and now available in English for the first time, is an attempt to do just that. Tamâas Krausz, an esteemed Hungarian scholar writing in the tradition of Gyèorgy Lukâacs, Ferenc Tîokei, and Istvâan Mâeszâaros, makes a major contribution to a growing field of contemporary Lenin studies. This rich and penetrating account reveals Lenin busy at the work of revolution, his thought shaped by immediate political events but never straying far from a coherent theoretical perspective. Krausz balances detailed descriptions of Lenin's time and place with lucid explications of his intellectual development, covering a range of topics like war and revolution, dictatorship and democracy, socialism and utopianism. Reconstructing Lenin will change the way you look at a man and a movement; it will also introduce the English-speaking world to a profound radical scholar"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Who was Lenin? -- Russian capitalism and the revolution -- Organization and revolution -- The war and the national question -- The state and revolution -- Dictatorship and democracy in practice -- World revolution : method and myth -- The theory of socialism : possibility or utopia? -- Summary comments in place of a postscript -- Chronology of Russian history, 1917-1924 -- Biographical sketchs.