"World Revolution is a key part of the revolutionary Marxist tradition and well worth reading today." Tony Phillips, Socialist Review
"The timing of the re-publication of World Revolution, to mark the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolutions, might make the reader think that the work is only of historical interest. It is not. It is worth reading today because of the contemporary resonances. . . . If you are interested in the development of Marxist philosophy, in response to the horrors of the Stalinist counter-revolution, I recommend that you read World Revolution." Chris Gilligan, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
"This edited version of James’s account of the internal tremors of the Bolshevik regime and its conflated relation to international communism is valuable from the standpoint that it also includes opinions on how the book was received and interpreted after its publication. Therefore, one of the main strengths of this edition is not just James’s analysis, but the reviews of World Revolution that turn it into a complete guide that depicts his conversion and dedication to Trotskyism. . . . A classic survey that should be read by scholars, students, or individuals with a general interest in the development of the Soviet Union, Marxism, Trotskyism, and international communism between the wars." Fredrik Petersson, Revolutionary Russia
"Vital. . . for those interested in reclaiming something from the revolutionary traditions of the twentieth century." Lisa K. Kirschenbaum, Journal of World History
"This incisive and wide-ranging work by the Trinidadian Marxist, C. L. R. James, was one of the first analyses of the rise of Stalin’s tyranny and the subordination of the needs of the international Communist movement to the needs of the Soviet state. Christian Høgsbjerg provides a marvelous introduction to James’s life and to the political context in which he wrote this remarkable work." S. A. Smith, author of Revolution and the People in Russia and China: A Comparative History
“Published in 1937, close to the ‘Midnight in the Century’ when Hitler and Stalin dominated global politics, C. L. R. James’s World Revolution affirms the actuality of Marxism even as it confronts the degeneration of the Russian Revolution of October 1917. In telling the story of the advance and retreat of the great revolutionary wave at the end of the First World War, James displays his qualities as a theorist, historian, and writer. This new edition includes an invaluable introduction by Christian Høgsbjerg that sets World Revolution in its place in the politics of the British left in the 1930s and in James’s own rich intellectual development.” Alex Callinicos, author of The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx
Table of Contents
Abbreviations xi
Editor's Note xiii
Introduction / Christian Høgsbjerg 1
World Revolution, 1917-1936
Preface 63
Introductory 65
1. Marxism 75
2. The Forerunners of the Third International 89
3. The War and the Russian Revolution 114
4. The Failure of the World Revolution and the Foundation of the International 135
5. Lenin and Socialism 155
6. Stalin and Socialism 174
7. Stalin Kills the 1923 Revolution 192
8. The Kulak and the British General Council 222
9. Stalin Rules the Chinese Revolution 243
10. The Platform and the Five-Year Plan 276
11. Industry and the Plan 294
12. "After Hitler, Our Turn" 306
13. The Great Retreat 349
14. The Revolution Abandoned 361
15. A Fourth International the Only Hope 387
Appendix on Sidney and Beatrice Webb's Soviet Communism 401
Notes 407
Reviews of World Revolution
Selected Reviews of the Original British Edition
"The Rise and Fall of the Communist International: James's New Book Reviewed by Fenner Brockway in New Leader 425
Reply from C. L. R. James 429
"Du Côté de Chez Trotsky," in New Statesman, by Raymond Postgate 430
"Lunacy or Logic? Two Views of One Book," in Controversy 432
"Communist" by J. R. Campbell 432
"Trotskyist" by Harry Wicks 434
"The Retreat of Moscow," in The Plebs, by Rowland Hill 455
"World Revolution," in International Affairs, by E. H. Carr 458
"Communism in Theory and Practice," in The Advertiser (Adelaide) 460
"The Third International," in Sydney Morning Herald 461
Selected Reviews of the Original American Edition
"No Place for Communists," in the Saturday Review, by Eugene Lyons 463
"History of the CI," in New International by Joseph Carter [Joseph Friedman] 465
"World Revolution," in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, by Harry N. Howard 469
Appendixes
Appendix A. C. L. R. James, Introduction to Red Spanish Notebook: The First Six Months of the Revolution and Civil War by Mary Low and Juan Breá [1937] 471
Appendix B. C. L. R. James, "Report on Activities in the Provinces" [1938] 473
Appendix C. Extracts from the Discussions between C. L. R. James and Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico [April 1939] 490
Index 507