this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
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One thing to note about reading Lenin: While his works are (in my opinion) the best way to really solidify one's understanding of communism, they can also be a bit overwhelming for beginners or just in general people who are not familiar at all with late 19th early 20th century European politics, because of the large amount of discussion and references to contemporary political movements, figures, publications, etc.
It definitely takes a bit of patience and willingness to delve into that specific historical time. Which is why your recommendation of reading "Blackshirts and Reds" and "Reform or Revolution" before getting into Lenin is absolutely the right approach imo. Perhaps even add some of Engels' works such as "The Principles of Communism" and "On Authority" ("Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" is great but may be a bit daunting at this point) in there before Lenin.