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This book is a collection of eleven essays dealing with important but little-studied episodes in Lenin’s attempt to build a Bolshevik Party before 1914. It also deals with his defence of Roman Malinovsky, who turned out to be a police spy, and his romantic involvement with a fellow Bolshevik, Inessa Armand. The last three essays paint a picture of a ‘non-geometric’ Lenin and his little-known interests in food, holidaying and sports.
‘Carter Elwood portrays a more human side of V. I. Lenin than Soviet hagiographies allowed and elaborates upon important moments in the Bolshevik leader’s life that are sometimes overlooked or sensationalized in Western biographies… All chapters reflect the author’s careful approach and close, cautious reading of sources.’ —Barbara C. Allen, ‘The NEP Era, Soviet Russia 1921-1928’
‘A somewhat quirky book [that] combines a study of pre-revolutionary Bolshevik party history with an often amusing and light-hearted look at the personal life of Lenin […The] writing style is breezy, often witty, and sometimes insightful, and the book makes for an enjoyable read.’ —James Ryan, ‘Revolutionary Russia’
‘Elwood is one of the three most significant English-language postwar historians of Lenin and Bolshevism… This essay is a fascinating bit of detective work. More than that, it is a case study in the dynamics of our profession that I believe everyone in it should read… A genuine exhilaration in scrupulous factual investigation, a quiet determination to follow the trail of whatever topic fascinates him… Would there were more non-geometric scholars like Carter Elwood!’ —Lars T. Lih, ‘Canadian Slavonic Papers’
‘Elwood has risen very well to the challenge of producing a more multifaceted Lenin… His guidance…is second to none. He has mined archives as deeply as they could be mined, including some post-1991 additions. His assessments are judicious and careful, and his scholarly craft is admirable… A wide range of those interested in the period will benefit greatly from Elwood’s book.’ —Christopher Read, ‘Slavic Review’
Carter Elwood is a Distinguished Research Professor of History at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
List of Illustrations; Introduction; Part One. Lenin’s Attempt to Build a Bolshevik Party, 1910–1914; 1. Lenin and the Social Democratic Schools for Underground Party Workers, 1909–1911; 2. The Art of Calling a Party Conference (Prague, 1912); 3. Lenin and ‘Pravda’, 1912–1914; 4. The Congress that Never Was: Lenin’s Attempt to Call a ‘Sixth’ Party Congress in 1914; 5. Lenin and the Brussels ‘Unity’ Conference of July 1914; Part Two. The ‘Other’ Lenin; 6. The Malinovskii Affair: ‘A Very Fishy Business’; 7. Lenin’s Testimony to the Extraordinary Investigatory Commission; 8. Lenin and Armand: New Evidence on an Old Affair; 9. What Lenin Ate; 10. Lenin on Vacation; 11. The Sporting Life of V. I. Lenin; Notes; Bibliography of Works Cited; Index