Lenin is a colossal figure whose influence on twentieth-century history
cannot be underestimated. Robert Service has written a calmly
authoritative biography on this seemingly unknowable figure. Making use
of recently opened archives, he has been able to piece together the
private as well as the public life, giving the first complete picture of
Lenin.
This biography simultaneously provides an account of one
of the greatest turning points in modern history. Through the prism of
Lenin's career, Service examines events such as the October Revolution
and the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, the one-party state, economic
modernisation, dictatorship, and the politics of inter-war Europe. In
discovering the origins of the USSR, he casts light on the nature of the
state and society which Lenin left behind and which have not entirely
disappeared after the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991.
'Immensely scholarly but also vivid and readable. This is a splendid
book, much the best that I have ever read about Lenin ...I was
overwhelmed by the power and vividness of this portrait.' Dominic
Lieven, Sunday Telegraph
'He has managed skilfully to depict the surreal life of an obsessive, brilliant and stubborn individual' Guardian
'Lenin's life was politics, but Service has succeeded in keeping Lenin
the man in focus throughout . . . This book deserves a place among the
best studies of one of the most fascinating figures in modern history'
Harold Shukman, The Times
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