Reading List.

[El Louton]

Hi!

I'm 15 and I'm looking to read some more 'left' stuff. What theory do you recommend I read? I want to be able to understand the key theories of communism, socialism, Lenin-Marxism, Trotskyism and Anarchism. What books do you suggest I read. Please give me a list of authors and a suggested reading list.

Should I read Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg and co or perhaps something more modern?

Thanks

Louton

[miltonwasfried...man]

"no gods, no masters" is a good book to start with. Covers many great anarchists and their works

[El Louton]

Thanks man!Who's it written by?

[Luc]

er I was writing a great post with links but it all got deleted :cursing:

So sorry for not having direct links but you should be able to find them at the following sites:

(1)http://www.marxists.org/
(2)http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/
(3)http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
(4)http://www.anarchosyndicalism.net/rocker/works.htm

not sure how far along you are in reading but here's what I'm planning to read and I picked them trying to get the basics of Anarcho-Communism, Anarcho-Syndicalism and Communism.

The Program of Anarcho-Syndicalism -Gregory Maximoff
http://libcom.org/library/program-anarcho-syndicalism-g-p-maximoff

Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism
Anarcho-Syndicalism
Anarchism and Sovietism -All by Rudolf Rocker (4)

The Conquest of Bread
Fields, Facotries, and Workshops -Petr Kropotkin (3)

Socialism: Scientifc and Utopian
The Communist Manifesto (if you haven't read yet)
The Civil War in France - by Karl Marx and/or Friedrich Engels (1)

Reform or Revolution
The Mass Strike - Rosa Luxemburg (1)

Two Souls of Socialism - Hal Draper
http://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1966/twosouls/index.htm

Imperialism, the highest stage of Capitalism
The State and Revolution
What is to be Done?
The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism - all by Lenin (1)

sorry if it's a bit long like I said that's just my list and I'm just starting:lol:

[El Louton]

Thanks! I'm going to have to read most of them! What do you suggest I start with? I have read the communist manifesto. Thanks for spending time doing that! Much appreciated.

[a rebel]

Michael Lowy is a favorite author of mine, I would recommend The Marxism of Che Guevara. It's one of my favorite books and very enlightening. Also if you want to learn about this stuff but are tired of reading, the UVURSU on youtube have some solid lectures

http://www.youtube.com/user/UVURSU

[El Louton]

Thank you! I'll add this to my reading list! Unfortunately I think this might get expensive!

[Luc]

Thanks! I'm going to have to read most of them! What do you suggest I start with? I have read the communist manifesto. Thanks for spending time doing that! Much appreciated.

Your Welcome and No problem:)

as for what ones to start with I recomend checking this out:
http://www.marxists.org/subject/students/index.htm

it is where I started my list and has some ones that I forgot to mention:lol:

the ones by Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, and Hal Draper are pretty short so I'm starting with them :thumbup1: along with the above link but thats just my preference.

The anarchist ones are pretty long so I'm saving them for last to get more in in a shorter amount of time if you want to do that too.

I should also suggest Anarchy by Errico Malatesta it's a good quick read
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/malatesta/anarchy.html

hope it helps!

edit: in reply to above, it's free online ;)

[El Louton]

Thanks! I'm going to start with Luxemburg then Lenin and will continue right the way to the long reads!

[Mr. Natural]

El Louton,

Thanks for your enthusiasm. I expected more repsponses to your request for radical reading material, but capitalism has triumphed and many of the remaining leftists have lost their spirit and become conservative and passive. Late in life, Engels remarked that he and Marx had "sown dragons but reaped fleas."

And now it is well past time for us fleas to hop to it and become dragons again.

I think of myself as a red-green theorist of revolutionary organization. (Well, we all have our conceits.) "Red-green" refers to a synthesis of Marxism and the new sciences that reveal the organization, patterns, and processes of life (thus society).

In any case, I can think of but one recent Marxist work that I believe would definitely interest you: Joel Kovel's Enemy of Nature (2002). Kovel is the editor of Capitalism, Nature, Socialism and the unofficial head of American ecosocialism.

The enemy of Nature is a (mostly) clearly written book that is intended for a popular readership. In it, Kovel conclusively indicts capitalism as the enemy of all forms of life and then offers an "ecosystemic" revolutionary organizing process in response. I find that Enemy effectively integrates Marxism with ecological concerns and the new sciences.

You might also want to access the "Ecosocialist Manifesto" (2001), which is easily located on the internet. This manifesto was jointly written by Kovel and Michael Lowy, who was also recommended to you.

I'm not associated with the ecosocialists, by the way, and have a couple of major differences with them.

Finally, I want to stress that Marx and Engels saw humans as natural (red-green) beings. Here is Marx's take on this in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844: "Communism therefore the complete return of man to himself as a [I]social (i.e., human) being--a return become conscious, and accomplished within the entire wealth of previous development. This communism, as fully-developed naturalism, equals humanism, and as fully-developed humanism equals naturalism; it is the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and nature and between man and man...."

My red-green best.

[El Louton]

Thank you! That's brilliant! I'll look into them soon! Thanks again!

[NoOneIsIllegal]

El Louton,

Thanks for your enthusiasm. I expected more repsponses to your request for radical reading material, but capitalism has triumphed and many of the remaining leftists have lost their spirit and become conservative and passive. Late in life, Engels remarked that he and Marx had "sown dragons but reaped fleas."

And now it is well past time for us fleas to hop to it and become dragons again.

I think of myself as a red-green theorist of revolutionary organization. (Well, we all have our conceits.) "Red-green" refers to a synthesis of Marxism and the new sciences that reveal the organization, patterns, and processes of life (thus society).

In any case, I can think of but one recent Marxist work that I believe would definitely interest you: Joel Kovel's Enemy of Nature (2002). Kovel is the editor of Capitalism, Nature, Socialism and the unofficial head of American ecosocialism.

The enemy of Nature is a (mostly) clearly written book that is intended for a popular readership. In it, Kovel conclusively indicts capitalism as the enemy of all forms of life and then offers an "ecosystemic" revolutionary organizing process in response. I find that Enemy effectively integrates Marxism with ecological concerns and the new sciences.

You might also want to access the "Ecosocialist Manifesto" (2001), which is easily located on the internet. This manifesto was jointly written by Kovel and Michael Lowy, who was also recommended to you.

I'm not associated with the ecosocialists, by the way, and have a couple of major differences with them.

Finally, I want to stress that Marx and Engels saw humans as natural (red-green) beings. Here is Marx's take on this in the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844: "Communism therefore the complete return of man to himself as a [I]social (i.e., human) being--a return become conscious, and accomplished within the entire wealth of previous development. This communism, as fully-developed naturalism, equals humanism, and as fully-developed humanism equals naturalism; it is the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and nature and between man and man...."

My red-green best.

An informative post, but all of this but no link to Ecology and Socialism (http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Socialism-Solutions-Capitalist-Ecological/dp/1608460916/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315771753&sr=8-1)? What a shame. A fantastic book, one of my favorite reads of the last few years.

[Smyg]

As always, my advice is to read Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. An incredible book on its own, it gives a lot of insight into the Spanish Civil War, stalinist rivalry with other tendencies and the success and downfall of Anarchist Catalonia.


Thank you! I'll add this to my reading list! Unfortunately I think this might get expensive!

As Einfach has pointed out, marxists.org is an incredible site for free reading material. You should also check out this (http://www.revleft.com/vb/e-texts-books-t53983/index.html) thread, from where you'll be able to get a lot of texts.

[El Louton]

Thanks Guys these are brilliant! What are to views on Antonio Gramsci?

[Sam Varriano]

I really enjoyed "Imperial Ambitions" by Noam Chomsky, as well as most of his stuff (his book on anarchism was kind of bland, though)

Also Not sure if its been mentioned but "State and Revolution" By VI Lenin

also:

"Anarchism and Other Essays" by Emma Goldman

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I could recommend "History of The Russian Revolution" by Leon Trotsky. You don't have to be a Trotskyist to appreciate it. Friends of mine from different tendencies, have said its one of the greatest books they've ever read.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/


Also I thought Issac Deutscher's "Prophet" biography of Trotsky is very interesting, although it is controversial within the Trotskyist movement. Tariq Ali called it "life changing". At the very least it has to be one of the most exciting adventure stories I've ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/Prophet-Armed-Trotsky-1879-1921-Vol/dp/1859844413/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

You should be able to find most of the classics on the Marxist Internet archive.

You can also download a lot of freebies here, including Gramsci.

http://radicalebooks.blogspot.com/

[El Louton]

Hey Guys!

Thanks for the responses! It's brilliant to see slightly older members willing to help out a young member! Thanks I'll try to read every single book! Solidarity Comrades!

Lenine Rosenweg and San Varriano thanks for the further input and time taken on your post today.

Thanks

[Debaser]

I'm basically in your position, around the same age trying to find out more, but if you want a good book that will explain Anarchism to you in simple language then I recommend reading the ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman as a sort of beginners guide.

Good luck with all your reading.

[El Louton]

Thanks! I think I might have to stop this thread as my wallet may seriously die of a heart attack if you guys keep on suggesting books! I'll give it a read! Thanks

[Wanted Man]

Moved to Learning.

[ArrowLance]

A personal favorite of mine that did a great deal for me when I was still learning the feel of the movement as a whole is The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky by Lenin. It is available here along with many other leftist works: http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/prrk/index.htm

The wonderful thing about Lenin, especially in this work, is how entertaining he is to read. When he isn't making sly remarks he is directly insulting the opposition.

[Red Commissar]

You can also download a lot of freebies here, including Gramsci.

http://radicalebooks.blogspot.com/

Just to add to that, here are download links to "Selections from the Prison Notebooks" and "Pre-Prison Writings". They should be working.

The Pre-Prison Writings

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EEYFXHU0

And the "Selections from the Prison Notebooks"

http://uploading.com/files/A1QR6XF7/071780397x%20gramsci-notebooks.rar.html

or

http://rapidshare.com/files/259329830/071780397x_gramsci-notebooks.rar.html

[Dzerzhinsky's Ghost]

Hi!

I'm 15 and I'm looking to read some more 'left' stuff. What theory do you recommend I read? I want to be able to understand the key theories of communism, socialism, Lenin-Marxism, Trotskyism and Anarchism. What books do you suggest I read. Please give me a list of authors and a suggested reading list.

Should I read Marx, Engels, Lenin, Luxemburg and co or perhaps something more modern?

Thanks

Louton

These links might help:

-Lenin Archive (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/)
-Marx-Engels Archive (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm)
-Hoxha Archive (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/index.htm)
-Stalin Archive (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/index.htm)

For specific works:

-Value, Price and Profit (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1865/value-price-profit/index.htm) by Karl Marx.
-Wage Labour and Capital (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm) by Karl Marx.
-Manifesto of the Communist Party (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm) by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.
-Principles of Communism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm) by Frederick Engels.
-Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm) by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.
-Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/index.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-Guerilla Warfare (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1906/gw/index.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-What Is To Be Done? (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/index.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-War and Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/may/14.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-April Theses (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/04.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-Blancism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/08.htm) by Vladimir Lenin.
-The State and Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/) by Vladimir Lenin.
-Leninism or Trotskyism (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/trotskyism.htm) by Josef Stalin.
-Prohibition of the Atomic Weapon (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1951/10/06.htm) by Josef Stalin.
-The Fight Against Right and "Ultra-Left" Deviations (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1926/ecci-speech.htm) by Josef Stalin.
-Imperialism and the Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/imp_rev/toc.htm) by Enver Hoxha.
-The Khrushchevites (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/1976/khruschevites/index.htm) by Enver Hoxha.
-Yugoslav "Self-Administration" - Capitalist Theory and Practice (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/1978/yugoslavia/index.htm) by Enver Hoxha.
-The ABC of Communism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/bukharin/works/1920/abc/index.htm) by Nikolai Bukharin.

That'd be a good start, you could also try to dive into Marx's Das Kapital but you might want to start small and build up.

I also recommend reading Ecology Against Capitalism by John Bellamy Foster.

[El Louton]

Thanks again. What would you say is easiest to read but still has a big impact on you? Thanks....

[The Jay]

I just started a thread about a group discussion of the Marx-Engels Reader edited by Robert Tucker. The book is available at barnes n noble, and we're having the first discussion tomorrow at http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=5683 . If you want to join up, you can anytime.

[El Louton]

Sorry mate but I don't have a clue what Barnes and Noble is?

[The Jay]

Oh, are you from the UK or Australia or somewhere else?

[Azraella]

•Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

•Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

•Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky

•What Is Property by P.J. Proudhon

•The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin


You might like those.

[El Louton]

UK. Is it a bookshop or something similar?

[El Louton]

Thank you. Which one should I start with? Any of them easy to understand without getting the dictionary out? Nice one mate ;)

[The Jay]

Yeah, it's a bookstore that has branches all over the U.S.; it may be the biggest one I think. Anyway, are you interested in the group study?

[El Louton]

Explain exactly what you mean by that? Oh really, it obviously hasn't got any stores in the UK!

[The Jay]

I meant that it's probably the biggest one in the US. Were you offended?

[El Louton]

No! Not that anyway- I meant group study!

[The Jay]

Haha, we are just reading through sections and discussing what was read: if it's true, why it's true, why it's not, how it could be improved, what it's based on, stuff like that.

[El Louton]

Of which book exactly? Sounds interesting.

[The Jay]

It's the Marx-Engles Reader edited by Robert C. Tucker Second Edition. We're having the first discussion starting tomorrow. It'll be on the first 25 pages, but the book isn't linear so you could jump in on the next group of selections if you don't want to read it all tonight. The discussion will probably last a couple of days if you get the book in time.

[El Louton]

Naa I won't get that in time and I don't have the money!

[Sam Varriano]

State and Revolution - VI Lenin

Anarchism and Other Essays - Emma Goldman

Das Kapital - Karl Marx

[El Louton]

Thanks! I don't think Das Kapital is a easy read though...

[Rooster]

Thanks again. What would you say is easiest to read but still has a big impact on you? Thanks....

You should definately get Ernst Fischer's Marx in his own Words. I've mentioned it in another thread, but it goes through the majority of Marxist concepts using excerpts from his works, all the way through Marx's life. You should be able to get it for a couple of squid from amazon second hand. I think I got my copy (a hard back) for a couple of pennies. It's a short short book and it's very easy to read.

[El Louton]

Thank you... My birthday's coming up so I will compile a list! Thanks. I'll think about all recommendations and ask for the best 8. Then Christmas comes!

Thanks :)