The cover page is adapted from The Bolshevik, a painting completed in 1918 by David Jagger. The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by The League of Moveable Type. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jaggerwww.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism
Chapters (17)
- Preface 0:00
- Part I: The Present Condition of Russia: I: What Is Hoped from Bolshevism 8:25
- II: General Characteristics 21:18
- III: Lenin, Trotsky and Gorky 37:27
- IV: Art and Education 49:17
- V: Communism and the Soviet Constitution 1:29:33
- VI: The Failure of Russian Industry 1:40:31
- VII: Daily Life in Moscow 1:57:16
- VIII: Town and Country 2:06:16
- IX: International Policy 2:16:06
- Part II: Bolshevik Theory: I: The Materialistic Theory of History 2:32:19
- II: Deciding Forces in Politics 2:44:52
- III: Bolshevik Criticism of Democracy 2:52:50
- IV: Revolution and Dictatorship 3:08:20
- V: Mechanism and the Individual 3:22:56
- VI: Why Russian Communism Has Failed 3:33:25
- VII: Conditions for the Success of Communism 3:51:36
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In 1920, British philosopher Bertrand Russell traveled to Russia with the British Labor Delegation to assess the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the growth of the inchoate socialist republic. Wracked by civil war and an oppressive trade blockade, Russia has descended into starvation, industrial failure, and civil unrest. In response, the Bolsheviks have resorted to austere methods to maintain social order and suppress perceived counterrevolutionary activity.
Russell had previously described his thoughts on socialism in Roads to Freedom and expressed concern that Marxism would give too much power to the state. In The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, Russell details his trip through Petrograd, Moscow, and the Russian countryside, and his interactions with Lenin and other prominent Soviet leaders. The second half of the book describes Russell’s critiques of Bolshevik fanaticism and the conditions he believes are necessary for the success of communism. An alternative account of the British Labor Delegation from the Russian perspective can be found in Alexander Berkman’s The Bolshevik Myth.