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Lenin's What is to Be Done? (1902) has long been seen as the founding document of a 'party of a new type'. For some, it provided a model of 'vanguard party' that was the essence of Bolshevism, for others it manifested Lenin's élitist and manipulatory attitude towards the workers. This substantial new commentary, based on contemporary Russian- and German-language sources, provides hitherto unavailable contextual information that undermines these views and shows how Lenin's argument rests squarely on an optimistic confidence in the workers' revolutionary inclinations and on his admiration of German Social Democracy in particular. Lenin's outlook cannot be understood, Lih claims here, outside the context of international Social Democracy, the disputes within Russian Social Democracy and the institutions of the revolutionary underground. The new translation focuses attention on hard-to-translate key terms. This study raises new and unsettling questions about the legacy of Marx, Bolshevism as a historical force, and the course of Soviet history, but, most of all, it will revolutionise the conventional interpretations of Lenin.

Socialism --- Marxism --- Social democracy --- Socialist movements --- Collectivism --- Anarchism --- Communism --- Critical theory --- Lenin, Vladimir Ilʹich, --- Rossiĭskai︠a︡ sot︠s︡ial-demokraticheskai︠a︡ rabochai︠a︡ partii︠a︡. --- Social-Democratic Workers Party of Russia --- Socjaldemokratyczna Partia Robotników Rosji --- SDPRR --- S.D.P.R.R. --- Ruská sociálnodemokratická robotnícka strana --- Sociálnodemokratická robotnícka strana Ruska --- RSDRP --- R.S.D.R.P. --- Russian Social Democratic Labour Party --- SDWPR --- S.D.W.P.R. --- Parti social-démocrate ouvrier en Russie --- Roshia Shakai Minshutō --- Ruslendisher sotsiyal-demoḳraṭisher arbeṭer-parṭey --- RSDAP --- Российская социал-демократическая рабочая партия --- РСДРП --- Venemaa Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Töölispartei --- Rosyjska Soc-Demokratyczna Partja Robotnicza --- Rosyjska Soc-Demokratyczna Partia Robotnicza --- Rossiĭskai︠a︡ sot︠s︡ial-demokraticheskai︠a︡ rabochai︠a︡ partii︠a︡ (bolʹshevikov)