At 11:30 AM 7/31/98 -0500, Bill Lear wrote: >I'm a bit naive on these topics and I'd like to read some critical >assessments of them. Chomsky contends (if I remember correctly) that >the Bolshevik revolution really destroyed the nascent socialism that >existed in the soviets, and I'm curious to know more about this >episode. Any suggestions would be welcome... The very best thing is unfortunately out of print and that is Isaac Deutscher's biography of Trotsky. Also recommended is the E.H. Carr series on the Soviet Union. The latest work, which I am a big fan of, is Moshe Lewin's "Russia--USSR--Russia." Trotsky's "Revolution Betrayed" is also very good. Also anything by Victor Serge, a Trotskyist who became an anarchist. You will find some themes in his work that echo Chomsky. Finally, I recommend CLR James's book on the Third International. Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
