Finished Communist Manifesto

[ralyks45]

I finished reading the communist manifesto. it was my first communist type book. I'm wondering what i should read next. any suggestions. should it be something by che? mao? lenin? someone else? thanks

[The Ben G]

I think Capital should be next. Or What is to be Done? or Imperialism: The highest stage of Capitalism. Those are some good books.

[mykittyhasaboner]

Imperialism: The highest stage of Capitalism.

This.

[red cat]

1) Principles of Communism.

2) Wage Labour and Capital.

Next you can move to some good works by Mao.

[Dave B]

parts II and III of ante duhring,

[ZeroNowhere]

Probably Wage-Labour and Capital and Value, Price and Profit. Then Capital (the first three volumes, Theories of Surplus-Value is optional). Try to avoid any exegeses (including the various works by Engels on it, and the introduction by Mandel, both of which contain a fair bit of rubbish) in the meantime. I prefer the Penguin editions to at least the translation of Volume One available on the internet, which was not all that good.

It could be worth skipping through or skimming parts of the first three chapters which you don't understand, and then rereading those after finishing the rest of the book, which shouldn't present any problems, and is a pretty fun read, featuring one of the best senses of humour in literature. Though the first three chapters are hardly bare of good writing, and indeed the first chapter has what I consider one of the best explanations of what communism is that has been enunciated thus far. Then there's this:


The form of wood, for instance, is altered if a table is made out of it. Nevertheless the table continues to be wood, an ordinary, sensuous thing. But as soon as it emerges as a commodity, it changes into a thing which transcends sensuousness. It not only stands with its feet on the ground, but, in relation to all other commodities, it stands on its head, and evolves out of its wooden brain grotesque ideas, far more wonderful than if it were to begin dancing of its own free will.

[chegitz guevara]

1) Principles of Communism.

2) Wage Labour and Capital.

After this I would suggest Rosa Luxemburg's Reform or Revolution and Lenin's The State and Revolution.

[<Insert Username Here>]

What is to be done? - Lenin

[bailey_187]

For an overview of Communist theory:
Bob Avakian - Phony Communism is dead, long live real communism
ICC - Communism: Not a nice idea but a material necesity
Engels - Principles of Communism

Easy Communist Economics:
Magdoff - The ABCs of the economic crisis: what working people need to know
Chris Harman - Economics of the madhouse
Yates - Naming the system

[Jimmie Higgins]

I finished reading the communist manifesto. it was my first communist type book. I'm wondering what i should read next. any suggestions. should it be something by che? mao? lenin? someone else? thanks
Well, it depends on what you want to know more about or are interested in getting a deeper understanding of. Did you have any buring questions from the Manifesto? If so, maybe if you let people know, we can help you find further readings.

[Antifa94]

Read some lighter things (problems of everyday life), work your way up to Das Kapital, Grundrisse, Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution etc.
If you need help with Das Kapital, there is an excellent supplement by David Harvey.

Enjoy!:)

[chegitz guevara]

What is to be done? - Lenin

I don't think that should be read right away, or even at all. it was a specific argument in Russian Marxism at the turn of the last century, without a lot of relevance to today.

If you must read it, pick up Lars Lihs' book, Lenin Rediscovered: 'What is to be Done?' in context.

[red cat]

I don't think that should be read right away, or even at all. it was a specific argument in Russian Marxism at the turn of the last century, without a lot of relevance to today.

If you must read it, pick up Lars Lihs' book, Lenin Rediscovered: 'What is to be Done?' in context.

"What is to be done ?" sort of outlines party structure stuff too, doesn't it ? Or am I confusing it with some other book ?

[chegitz guevara]

"What is to be done ?" sort of outlines party structure stuff too, doesn't it ? Or am I confusing it with some other book ?

Only in the most general terms, we need a newspaper, we need people who are revolutionaries by trade, etc.

[anticap]

The trouble is that you've got Marx and Engels, who started the ball rolling, and then you've got all these other names fighting over the ball and claiming the Marxist mantle, with many of them conflicting. Of course they can't all be right. Personally, I'd stick to Marx, including the stuff he wrote with Engels. I'd avoid Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Mao, and all the rest, at least until you've got handle on what Marx meant, according to his own words. None of those other figures are going to be able to help you there, despite the flood of negative rep that this post is about to get from their various legions of sycophants who believe that their favorite figurehead had a direct connection to Marx from beyond the grave. For the time being, I'd even avoid the stuff written by Engels after Marx's death.

None of this is meant to present Marx as an infallible god, but just to warn you that Marxism is a quagmire of conflicting messages, petty bickering, cult-like devotions... in a word, it is fucking depressing. You'd do well to take it very slowly, like bitter medicine. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to start with the core ideas of Marx and expand outward later, much later. And remember: you can embrace Marx without taking on the baggage of Lenin, et al. That's what I've done. The ghost of Marx did not pass into the body of the 12-year-old Lenin, no matter what Leninists think. (You can even be an anarchist while embracing Marx, as many anarchists do!)

[which doctor]

Capital is an incredibly difficult and complex book, and requires a serious study if you wan to get anything out of it. This is my warning.

[Martin Blank]

When I'm asked, this is the standard list (following reading the Manifesto) I give in reply:

Theses on Feuerbach - Marx
The State and Revolution - Lenin
Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League (Part 1) - Marx
Inaugural Address of the International Working Men's Association - Marx
Critique of the Gotha Programme - Marx
Socialist Reconstruction of Society - DeLeon
Wage-Labour and Capital - Marx
Value, Price and Profit - Marx
Capital, Vol. 1 - Marx
Anti-Duhring - Engels
Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State - Engels
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Engels
Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution - Lenin
The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte - Marx
Class Struggles in France (1848-1850) - Marx
The Civil War in France - Marx
Two Pages from Roman History - DeLeon
The German Ideology - Marx/Engels
Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy - Marx
The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism - Lenin
The Burning Question of Trades Unionism - DeLeon
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism - Lenin
The Struggle against Fascism in Germany - Trotsky
Marxism and the National Question - Stalin
Terrorism and Communism - Trotsky
How I Became a Socialist - Debs
The Socialist Party and the Working Class - Debs
Revolutionary Unionism - Debs
The Majority Report - Debs
The Canton, Ohio, Anti-War Speech - Debs

Every one of these is available online at the Marxists Internet Archive -- http://www.marxists.org

[Die Rote Fahne]

I finished reading the communist manifesto. it was my first communist type book. I'm wondering what i should read next. any suggestions. should it be something by che? mao? lenin? someone else? thanks

Marxism or Leninism by Rosa Luxemburg

[Zeus the Moose]

Marxism or Leninism by Rosa Luxemburg

That has the same problems as reading What Is To Be Done?; it's tied to specific arguments within Russian Marxism in the early 20th century. It's also somewhat of a misleading title, considering the original name for that pamphlet was Organisational Questions of Russian Social Democracy.

[bcbm]

wow, i think i can count the number of suggestions written in the past two decades on one hand. hell, make that the past five decades.

[which doctor]

Marxism or Leninism by Rosa Luxemburg
As Zeus the Moose pointed out, the original title was Organizational Questions of Russian Social Democracy. The alternate title Marxism or Leninism was given by Ann Arbor Paperbacks because of rampant anti-Bolshevism and the misguided attempt to pit Luxemburg against Lenin when, in fact, they are in the same tradition. Leninism is Marxism.

[tornwarriorx]

Or you could try Marx's Capital for Beginners. I just finished it, and I can say it presents Marxian economics in a very clear cut, easy to understand, manner. Good for beginners, like myself. They have it one this forum somewhere, but since I have under 25 posts, I can't put the link here. Hopefully someone else can.

[mikelepore]

Capital is an incredibly difficult and complex book, and requires a serious study if you wan to get anything out of it. This is my warning.

I think a beginner should read chapter 1 of "Capital", which is easy to read. Not necessarily the whole book. Chapter 1 defines basic ideas that many people misunderstand, such as socially necessary labor time.

Chapter 13 is also good, covering the idea of cooperation.

[ZeroNowhere]

wow, i think i can count the number of suggestions written in the past two decades on one hand. hell, make that the past five decades.
If this disturbs you, perhaps you should write something worthwhile that ought to be recommended, because most of "those who - in all places and at all times - innovate, bring up to date, renovate and revise," Bordiga's "epidemic," generally have not.


Capital is an incredibly difficult and complex book, and requires a serious study if you wan to get anything out of it. This is my warning.I think 'incredibly' may well be an exaggeration.


I think a beginner should read chapter 1 of "Capital", which is easy to read.Well, Volume 1 is generally easier to read, excluding perhaps the second and third chapter, as it seems many get stuck on those.

[spaßmaschine]

If you want to read Marx there's no reason not begin with Capital; if you find it intimidating, Fredy Perlman's "The Reproduction of Everyday Life" is a good primer (available at libcom.org/library/reproduction-everyday-life-fredy-perlman)

[Bilan]

1) Principles of Communism.

2) Wage Labour and Capital.

Next you can move to some good works by Mao.

The first two are good suggestions, but skip the Mao for a while.

I'd say read those two, then maybe try some Lenin (State and Revolution) and Luxemburg (reform or revolution).
Then...just go with the flow.

[bcbm]

If this disturbs you, perhaps you should write something worthwhile that ought to be recommended, because most of "those who - in all places and at all times - innovate, bring up to date, renovate and revise," Bordiga's "epidemic," generally have not.so nothing "worth recommending" from a communist perspective has been written in the past fifty years?

[Ravachol]

It really depends on what you're looking for. Personally I am really enjoying Marx beyond Marx: Lessons on the Grundrisse by Antonio Negri, but I guess it's a bit heavy reading. Books for Burning and Storming Heaven are good introductions to Autonomist Marxism, so I'd start there if you're interested.

If you're interested in class-struggle anarchism I'd recommend Black Flame by Schmidt and Van der wall. It's a great introductionary text as well.

[spaßmaschine]

so nothing "worth recommending" from a communist perspective has been written in the past fifty years?
Actually there are a number of communist recommendables written in the last 50 years.

*The Eclipse and Reemergence of the Communist Movement - Dauve and Martin - libcom.org/library/eclipse-re-emergence-communist-movement

*Hamburgers vs. Value - Kaempa Tillsammans! - libcom.org/library/hamburgers-vs-value-riff-raff-group

*A Ballad Against Work - Kamunist Kranti - libcom.org/library/ballad-against-work-kamunist-kranti

*A participatory society or libertarian communism - libcom group - libcom.org/library/participatory-society-or-libertarian-communism

to name but a few, none of which should be too impenetrable to a "beginner".

[Glenn Beck]

Give Principles of Communism a quick read, it's short and easy as fuck.

Then read Wage Labor & Capital

After that, go for the State & Revolution imo. I second the comments about saving What is to be Done? for later, except that I'd recommend giving chapter 2 a quick read at some point, it works quite well on its own and has quite a bit of relevance to long-term trends in socialist politics. It also goes quite nicely with Luxemburg's Reform or Revolution. Tackling the first few chapters of Capital is a good idea just to get your feet wet, it doesn't matter if you don't fully understand everything, you'll get down the basics and Capital is one of those books you need to re-read to fully grasp.

IMO reading those works in that order is the fastest way to get up to speed on a general understanding of Marxist theory and many of the most common debates. Then I'd basically just second Miles' huge list of recommendations. They are pretty much all excellent and very accessible. After reading most of that, which should not take more than a couple of months depending on how fast you read and how much free time you have, you'll probably have as good a theoretical grounding as most people on this site.


wow, i think i can count the number of suggestions written in the past two decades on one hand. hell, make that the past five decades.


I don't think you'd be complaining if people were recommending Origin of the Species to someone interested in learning about evolutionary biology. The fact of the matter is that many of the early works, especially the shorter works by Marx and almost everything Lenin wrote were written with a far more popular and accessible style than recent communist literature which is often far more specialist, esoteric and if it isn't specialist it is almost universally tainted with sectarian commitments, often very extreme and idiosyncratic ones. They mostly repeat and very often misrepresent the classics and are full of accretions that will ultimately only confuse someone not familiar with the primary sources. Most of this stuff is short, so it's far far better to learn first hand what Lenin was saying rather than learning one of the 3 billion radically divergent interpretations and appraisals of Lenin produced in the 20th century. I think encouraging people to read "the classics", insofar as they are the primary sources that informed all future debates and insofar as we are still stuck having a lot of the debates of the Second International period is a very good idea.

OTOH


so nothing "worth recommending" from a communist perspective has been written in the past fifty years?

Don't worry about anything ZeroNowhere says, he's a worthless left-sectarian whose primary recourse is some kind evasive intellectual hipsterism and an aloof affectation of superior understanding.

Also none of my recommendations apply if you consider yourself already committed to anarchism, these recommendations are for people who want to get a decent foundation in Marxist socialism.

[bricolage]

I've always thought this is a very good text to recommend.

Capitalism and communism - Gilles Dauvé
http://libcom.org/library/capitalism-communism-gilles-dauv%C3%A9

[Valeofruin]

Capital is an incredibly difficult and complex book, and requires a serious study if you wan to get anything out of it. This is my warning.

Yeah people who suggested any economics texts are a bit..
read Emile Burns What is Marxism next... It's very short and online. Read www.dialectics4kids.com and some discussions on materialism.

From there you can either listen to Engels and Stalin go on about materialism, or go on to Lenin and marx's lighter works.

What is to be done, imperialism, left wing communism are meh and a bit too specific for early learnin, deffinately start with the state and revolution. No mao or avakian or even Trotsky shit. That's all just people trying to convert you to their über cults.

[bcbm]

I don't think you'd be complaining if people were recommending Origin of the Species to someone interested in learning about evolutionary biology.

no, but i'd be concerned if someone was interested in learning about evolutionary biology and every work out of over a dozen recommended to them had been written at the beginning of the last century or earlier, as though nothing significant had happened after that.


I think encouraging people to read "the classics", insofar as they are the primary sources that informed all future debates and insofar as we are still stuck having a lot of the debates of the Second International period is a very good idea.

or maybe there is a correlation between the two?

[Sand Castle]

In my opinion, the best thing for a beginner to do is go get a copy of "The Marx-Engels Reader" edited by Robert Tucker. It's got most, if not all, of the Marx/Engels works in it that were suggested on this page. It's good for begginners.

[bailey_187]

No mao or avakian or even Trotsky shit. That's all just people trying to convert you to their über cults.

I got nothing to do with the RCP. Im not even from the country they are in. The Avakian book is just a good explanation of Communist ideas and a good rebuttle to the usual anti-communist arguments the OP will encounter. I also recomended a similar book from the ICC (which i dont have anything to do with either) because its a good book explaining basic parts of marxism

[ZeroNowhere]

so nothing "worth recommending" from a communist perspective has been written in the past fifty years?
Nothing worth recommending in this context, as far as I recall, because most of the good texts from that period ('Marxism and Hegel', 'The Violence of Abstraction', etc) are generally not really standalone works, which is to say that they usually are, in large part, a clarification of ideas in texts from before the past fifty years. In the case of Colletti, I think that some of the most important ideas which he stresses are ones which are already quite clearly presented in Capital, whereas the others are still important, but nonetheless, perhaps not as useful to somebody who was just beginning.

At least, I generally think that the most useful thing at this point would be a comprehensive critique of capitalism, and don't think that anybody has done anything quite as good or well-written as Capital on this point. As it is, I find that this critique makes it much clearer what communism seeks to achieve, moreso than something only on communism could (hell, I generally start off discussions of communism by comparison with the current crisis), and indeed Capital contains one of the best summaries of what communism is in its first chapter. Kliman's recent works include a great study of the US economy and falling rate of profit underlying the current crisis, and while this would probably be worthwhile reading for anybody, I think it's probably more rewarding for somebody who has read Capital already, given that it basically builds off Capital rather than being an independent work per se. There are also books which are worth reading, but not necessarily very educational, such as Perrin's 'Savage Mules', which is definitely a fun read, but perhaps not for learning.

However, when it comes to writing a better book, I think that while it may be possible to improve on Capital in some aspects, on others it may be difficult, though I won't say it's impossible. To give examples from Volume 1, while the accounts of the effects of capitalism as regards child labour and so on are often well put together, I think it would be quite possible to give more relevant and modern examples. Also, an account of the current crisis could well make powerful reading. There is also some repetition in the middle of the book that could be cut out, though it's not too bad. However, the problem is in redoing the theory sections, and I'm not sure that they could be done much better. However, perhaps a book containing the above done well (that is, not by Klein) could make very good supplementary material, but still something to be read alongside or after rather than at the same time. I think it wouldn't be nearly as effective if not directly connected to the theory, however, and perhaps not worth recommending to somebody new if the connection between the problems and capitalism in itself is not made clear, in a similar way to what Marx did in his original presentation. While texts have been put out connecting the profit motive with environmental degradation and so on, I'm not sure that any is particularly powerful reading, and it's a fairly straightforward topic. They could be useful in finding sources, but these would only be of use in a wider debate.

I do believe that at the recent Left Forum, there was some discussion of a new book series which would involve Kliman, Freeman, Desai and so on writing about modern capitalism and its future, and I think that something worthwhile may come out of that which could be of great use to somebody new as well as the rest of us, though I would still be recommending Capital alongside it.

But yes, I don't think anything worth recommending in this context, except perhaps as an introduction to another text, has really been written in the past 50 years. While it's not necessarily good to focus on the past too much, we do still live in a capitalist society, and as a critique of capitalism in general is probably most worthwhile, it doesn't really matter that much, perhaps, in what century it was written. I think that it may well be possible to build on it for a good text on the 20th Century specifically, but as throughout that century it has generally been dismissed as inconsistent (usually in order to 'revise' it), that wouldn't seem to be the case, and it still tells us a lot about the present, for example the crisis that is presently going on. My above reply may well have seemed overly harsh, and for that I apologize.

I also wanted to avoid texts by people like Paresh Chattopadhyay, in order to avoid anything that may seem blatant tendency promotion.


I don't think you'd be complaining if people were recommending Origin of the Species to someone interested in learning about evolutionary biology.That's probably not the best of comparisons. While I wouldn't complain about the recommendation of Darwin's book, evolutionary biology has undergone a fair bit of progress since that time, and I think that better works may well exist for understanding evolution, not only in content but in presentation. On the other hand, if after Darwin creationism suddenly took sway in the field, because evolution was claimed inconsistent or some such, it's quite possible that nothing better would have been produced.


Don't worry about anything ZeroNowhere says, he's a worthless left-sectarian whose primary recourse is some kind evasive intellectual hipsterism and an aloof affectation of superior understanding.Appreciated.

[The Grey Blur]

Basically there are 4 essential reads for any Marxist - Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. If you want to continue Marxist analysis after WW2 then Ted Grant is also worth reading as the only one to properly understand and analyse the economic and political post-war situation. You could gain an entire complete philosophical and political education from these 4 or 5. There is plenty of other great writers like Kropotkin, Luxembourg, Zinn, even some Chomsky etc all these other great reads that have been suggested. But I think my first recommendations are the essential foundations...You should also check www.marxist.com as it has great articles on current events, good audio files on various interesting subjects and a great archive of older material. Apologies for not providing specific articles...just a general overview.

Those who say oh people who recommend Trotsky or Mao or whatnot are trying to recruit you I can tell you now I don't agree with everything Trotsky did or said, but he is a true Marxist thinker, whether you agree with his politics or not he analyses and understands grand grand subjects (capitalist economics, revolutionary history, organisation) in ways that maybe some more the more obscure writers suggested don't (though maybe they outclass trotsky in say kropotkin's case mutual aid which is a great book on cooperation in human society etc), and of course Mao and all the other stalinists their theorising is flimsy as cardboard...look at how shocked they were at the collapse of the USSR when Trotsky predicted it almost half a century beforehand...

[Valeofruin]

Basically there are 4 essential reads for any Marxist - Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

Those who say oh people who recommend Trotsky or Mao or whatnot are trying to recruit you I can tell you now I don't agree with everything Trotsky did or said, but he is a true Marxist thinker, whether you agree with his politics or not he analyses and understands grand grand subjects (capitalist economics, revolutionary history, organisation) in ways that maybe some more the more obscure writers suggested don't (though maybe they outclass trotsky in say kropotkin's case mutual aid which is a great book on cooperation in human society etc), and of course Mao and all the other stalinists their theorising is flimsy as cardboard...look at how shocked they were at the collapse of the USSR when Trotsky predicted it almost half a century beforehand...

LOL. No Stalin or mao yet you claim to not be recruiting... That's almost as good as the avakianites claim.... When does rim ever stop recruiting? The only good Trotsky or mao are books in which the bulk of communists agree with. The bulk of communists find little fault in Marxism and the national question, revolution betrayed... Not so much. You said ALL he need to read are trotskyite works and linked to the church of trotsky homepage....

[anticap]

Basically there are 4 essential reads for any Marxist - Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

I disagree vehemently with this notion that "Marxism" necessarily entails that one take the fork in the road marked "Lenin" and get to know all the colorful characters that follow. This belief has done perhaps the greatest damage to Marx's name, not because of the bourgeois nonsense told about the USSR, but because there's no reason to accept the claim -- whether merely implied with a wink, or angrily declared with a raised fist -- that Lenin is the logical or necessary continuation of Marx. This claim is simply false. It's bad enough that people treat Engels as though he were Marx's conjoined twin.

Read Marx. He was right about capitalism. Where you go from there is up to you, but don't believe for an instant that your subsequent path will be somehow illegitimate if it doesn't begin with Lenin. There are innumerable paths emanating from the crossroads of Marx.

[ArrowLance]

I think Capital should be next. Or What is to be Done? or Imperialism: The highest stage of Capitalism. Those are some good books.


Don't kill the poor person! Further I don't think there is any wrong way to go about moving forward, most books mentioned here are good. Capital is a bit heavy and slow, however it can still be very exciting, I think that you should wait on that a bit if your only other experience is The Manifesto.

To add something my favorite book that has done much to enlighten me is The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/prrk/index.htm).

[mikelepore]

I recommend the pamphlet "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" by Engels. In 1877 Engels had written a book called "Herr Eugen Dühring's Revolution in Science", which came to be known as "Anti-Dühring." It was mostly abstract philosophical gibberish that almost no one could make any sense of it. However, in 1880 Engels realized that there was one section of that book that made sense and was worth reading. Then he did the right thing and he republished just that shorter and worthwhile section in the form of the newer pamphlet.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Honestly, I would pay attention to the news at this point. Current Events is where it's at.
Don't believe everything you read either, remember that the person who wrote it was just like you, a person with an opinion.
As far as books go, now that you are done with the Communist Manifesto I would suggest branching into other political
ideals to see which one "best" fits you. Expand your branches.

[Glenn Beck]

or maybe there is a correlation between the two?

No. There is a correlation between being drafted into someone else's commitments in some anachronistic dispute by a persuasive but one-sided argument and continuing those same disputes. Independently understanding the past on its own terms is the best corrective to this.

[bcbm]

No. There is a correlation between being drafted into someone else's commitments in some anachronistic dispute by a persuasive but one-sided argument and continuing those same disputes. Independently understanding the past on its own terms is the best corrective to this.

i think some people never get beyond the "understanding the past" part.

[Chambered Word]

LOL. No Stalin or mao yet you claim to not be recruiting... That's almost as good as the avakianites claim.... When does rim ever stop recruiting? The only good Trotsky or mao are books in which the bulk of communists agree with. The bulk of communists find little fault in Marxism and the national question, revolution betrayed... Not so much. You said ALL he need to read are trotskyite works and linked to the church of trotsky homepage....

You've already managed to turn a simple learning thread for recommended reading into a sectarian jerkoff. :rolleyes:

My advice would be to read Marx's Kapital for Beginners (Google it, it's available on RevLeft). You could also start with chapter one of Das Kapital itself as someone else suggested. There are some smaller pamphlets on capitalism that have already been mentioned such as Wage Labour and Capital that may be worth reading as well. These will give you a decent understanding of the capitalist system and why socialists disagree with it.

From there, you could try reading some of Lenin's works. What is to be done? and Left-Wing Communism are good to start with. You might want to investigate Luxemburgist and left communist ideas as well. I'm sure someone has already mentioned some of Luxemburg's writings in this thread. If you're more interested in Leninist ideas, give Trotsky and Stalin a read after that. The Permanent Revolution and The Revolution Betrayedwould probably be a decent read, as well as Fascism: What is it and how to fight it. I don't know much about Stalin's works but they are also worth a read if you're interested in Marxism-Leninism. If Trotsky wasn't really your thing, give some of Mao and Hoxha's works a read. Basically, start with the originals and go from there. Make your own mind up.

That's just what I would recommend to someone who is completely new to socialism, I understand it's quite a lot to get through.