Personal top 5 leftist books?

[crimsonzephyr]

What are your personal favorite leftist books?

i need some ideas

[Mujer Libre]

You might want to check out the reading list that is pinned at the top of this forum. It has loads of books that people recommend, and some keep coming up over and over again.

[RedAnarchist]

Personally -


1. The Communist Manifesto (first leftist book I ever read)
2. ABC of Anarchism (Berkman really knows how to explain Anarchism)
3. Homage to Catalonia (Orwell is a great writer and describes his experiences well)


I dunno what I would put for 4 or 5 though.

[Organic Revolution]

1. How Non-Violence Protects The State
2. Anarchy's Cossak
3. The Spanish Anarchists
4. Anarchism- A Documentary History Of Libertarian Ideas
5. The ABC's Of Anarchism

[Random Precision]

In no particular order:

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Mother by Maxim Gorky
Tungsten by Cesar Vallejo

[Eleftherios]

Since I like so many leftist books, I'm just going to post 5 that I really like (In no particular order):

1. The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
2. The Permanent Revolution - Leon Trotsky
3. Reason in Revolt - Ted Grant and Alan Woods
4. Ten Days that Shook the World - John Reed
5. Revolution Betrayed - Leon Trotsky

[RedAnarchist]

Originally posted by Organic [email protected] 18, 2007 01:54 am
2. Anarchy's Cossak

Its a very good book, that. I've just finished reading it myself.

[Organic Revolution]

Originally posted by Red_Anarchist+November 17, 2007 10:36 pm--> (Red_Anarchist @ November 17, 2007 10:36 pm)
Organic [email protected] 18, 2007 01:54 am
2. Anarchy's Cossak

Its a very good book, that. I've just finished reading it myself. [/b]
Did you read all of the letters and statements and communiques in the back? Amazing shit.

[Red Terror Doctor]

Blackshirts and Reds by Dr. Parenti

State and Revolution-- Lenin

[bluescouse]

1)The Communist manifesto
2) The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
3) The City that Dared to fight
4) Left wing Communism an Infantile Disorder, by Lenin
5) The History of the Russian revolution, by Trotsky.

[crimsonzephyr]

Ive heard of many of theses books and wanted to get them but the only problem is my family, they would freak. I'm hiding a small socialist book in a inner jacket pocket. Any good books that dont seem leftist on the outside?

[More Fire for the People]

1. The German Ideology by Karl Marx
2. Critique of the Gotha Program by Karl Marx
3. The Prison Notebooks by Gramsci
4. The Nature of the Russian Economy by Dunayevskaya
5. The Russian Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg

I'd also check out some books on the Spanish Civil War and the Black Panther Party.

[Pawn Power]

Originally posted by Organic [email protected] 17, 2007 08:53 pm
1. How Non-Violence Protects The State

Peter Gelderloos? I was searching for a copy, it looks good.

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

Originally posted by Hopscotch [email protected] 27, 2007 02:28 am
I'd also check out some books on the Black Panther Party.
I have looked in thr UK in a few big book stores, and I can not find one on the Panthers...is there one available on the internet that you could reconmend?

My top 5

Communist Manifesto
Failed States -Noam Chomsky
Introducing Marxism
A Rebels Guide to...Marx
.............................Lenin
............................Gramsci


To the first poster....maybe you could tell you parents its history homework?

[AGITprop]

Manifesto
Reason in Revolt
A Child's first bible
I love you forever
The Grinch


ps the last 3 were a joke

[crimsonzephyr]

Originally posted by Y Chwildro Comiwnyddol [email protected] 27, 2007 08:02 pm
To the first poster....maybe you could tell you parents its history homework?
good idea, but my mom is already suspicious because i listen to RATM...my grandma thought the fist meant communism so now they're both a lil weary

[Muthafuck Judas!]

Originally posted by hardee+November 28, 2007 03:08 am--> (hardee @ November 28, 2007 03:08 am)
Y Chwildro Comiwnyddol [email protected] 27, 2007 08:02 pm
To the first poster....maybe you could tell you parents its history homework?
good idea, but my mom is already suspicious because i listen to RATM...my grandma thought the fist meant communism so now they're both a lil weary[/b]
You need to explain to them that leftism isn't a 'bad' word, and that just because you have an interest in something outside of the norm does not make you and evil dictator.

Trust me I know, when my dad first found out I was an anarchist he thought I was a neo-nazi (seriously). But he's cool with it now.

[Muthafuck Judas!]

BTW there's some good (A) literature here.
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archi...rchivehome.html (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/archivehome.html)

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally posted by Hope Lies in the [email protected] 18, 2007 02:50 am
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

How was that book leftist? It might have broken a few "taboos" but I didn't read any form of leftism in it, unless you consider nihilism to be leftist.

[counterblast]

1. Critical Practice by Catherine Belsey
2. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler
3. The Order of Things by Michel Foucault
4. Things Fall Apart by Achebe
5. My Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman

Although I'm probably forgetting some, these are the ones that come to mind.

[Mujer Libre]

That's a great list counterblast!

[abbielives!]

These are some good texts that lay down the theoretical foundation for an anarchist society

1. What is Property? - Proudhon
2. Mutual Aid - Kropotkin
3. Parecon - Michael Albert
4. Horizontalism - Marina Sitrin
5. Revolution For The Hell Of It - Abbie Hoffman or Days of War, Nights of Love

[counterblast]

Originally posted by Mujer [email protected] 28, 2007 11:30 pm
That's a great list counterblast!
I certainly think so! I'm sure many of the staunch Leninists and Stalinists on this site would disagree with us, though.

[UndergroundConnexion]

Communist Manifest
God and the State (wonderful, just discovered it)
Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Revolution Betrayed

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29, 2007 03:08 pm

God and the State (wonderful, just discovered it)
Autobiography of Malcolm X

Could you explain more about God and the State...

Also Malcolm X is pretty interesting, and a worthwhile read but i wouldnt class it as essential leftist reading

[UndergroundConnexion]

you want a summary of the book or something?

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29, 2007 09:15 pm
you want a summary of the book or something?
Please

[Chicano Shamrock]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2007 05:25 pm
Ive heard of many of theses books and wanted to get them but the only problem is my family, they would freak. I'm hiding a small socialist book in a inner jacket pocket. Any good books that dont seem leftist on the outside?
Mostly stuff by George Orwell since he is mostly thought of as anti-Communist. Get Homage to Catalonia, 1984 or Animal Farm. I haven't read any others from him but from what I hear the others are good too. Homage to Catalonia looks like a straight up war time story which it is. If your mom asks about it just say it is about the spanish fighting the fascists much like the Allies fought the fascists in WW2.

Otherwise if you can't actually have the book read it on the internet. Try Proudhon's What is Property, Bakunin's God and State, maybe The Communist Manifesto, Goldman's Anarchism: What it really stands for and Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread. You can find all of these online. Also Days of War, Nights of love is a good book to introduce you to anarchist thought.

Check out www.audioanarchy.org

[Vanguard1917]

One book which is really worth trying to read and understand is History and Class Consciousness by Georg Lukacs. It's one of the more challenging texts, but it really helps you make sense of a lot of things.

[MT5678]

1) Communist Manifesto: The first one I ever read.
2) Year 501 (Noam Chomsky): reads like a Greek Tragedy, polemical, uncompromising, and a great history of neoliberal hell.
3) A People's History of the United States: Marxist account of U.S. history pre-Columbian through Clinton Presidency. Very famous book.
4) Hegemony or Survival: Everyone knows about this book.
5) State and Revolution: but every other Marxist says the same stuff and has more empirical evidence too.

[Chicano Shamrock]

Originally posted by [email protected] 07, 2007 03:18 pm
3) A People's History of the United States: Marxist account of U.S. history pre-Columbian through Clinton Presidency. Very famous book.

Marxist? It is a book told from the view of the people who were affected by the actions of the times written about. It is not a re-telling of history from a Marxist mindset.

[crimsonzephyr]

im just finishing up "steal this book" by Abbie Hoffman. I really recommend it for any activist new or experienced. It is a bit outdated tho.