I mean this in the most goodest of faith possible: why not focus on a book tackling current problems, rather than rehashing ML stuff.
this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
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Because if they don't have a solid grasp of leftist ideas and fundamentals, what good is focusing on current issues? ML theory deals with capitalism and the issues it causes, while the specific nature of the issues today aren't the exact same as they were a century ago, they are still issues whose root cause is the same. Trying to deal with current issues without understanding the underlying cause properly would be like treating the symptoms of a disease and refusing to ever look for a permanent cure.
ML theory deals with capitalism and the issues it causes
You'll never find out what anarchist theory is about.
How to bake a really nice loaf of bread?
If you pick the right book, you can introduce ML principles and ideas, in a way that doesn't rehash whether Stalin or Lenin were good – you and I know they were. But, if we are talking entry level/baby marxists, getting them acquainted with current challenges and organizing in ways that are effective feels more important at this time.
I suppose I'm looking at it differently to you, in my opinion, if they refuse to actually learn about past socialist leaders and projects, they'll also never learn about the mistakes of past socialist movements, and in turn will most likely make those same mistakes. And learning about Lenin and Stalin doesn't "just" teach them about these historical figures, it also helps teach them how to categorise and understand information and how a lot of information about socialism is heavily manipulated by capitalists. I just don't think you should coddle baby leftists and let them keep their brainworms, it won't make them into good communists, it will only make them into shitty impotent socdems.
Seconding Blackshirts and Reds out of those options!
It would be playing with fire to recommend Trotsky, but he was the most prominent Jewish Bolshevik and wrote about his experiences and political theory around them. Antisemites would constantly depict Trotsky as the face of communism with antisemitic caricatures and epithets, right up to the Nazis and their big bad enemy of "Judeo-Bolshevism". This could be an interesting topic to explore, as the Bolsheviks were in alignment with Jewish people and organized against pogroms and antisemitism and accordingly had prominent Jewish members. And antisemites seized on this and wrapped it into their conspiracy theories.
Reading a proper history of Jewish Bolsheviks might be a good primer. It will not challenge anything regarding Stalin, but that might be a good thing since they are already anti-Lenin. Making them soften their opinion of Lenin could be a good first step. For example, Lenin wrote specifically against the Zionist conception of Jews as a separate nationality and for full and equal integration, and was the first European country to guarantee equal rights for Jewish people. The Bolshevik approach to the Pale of Settlement wrt a Jewish nationality with Yiddish as an official language would be interesting for this group, as it demonstrates the commitment of Bolsheviks to fight antisemitism and support the USSR's Jewish population - and squaring this with Lenin's opinions on nationalism would require really thinking about the meaning of all these facts.
This would also provide a segue to eventually discuss Stalin, as he was more or less in charge of designing and implementing revolutionary and protective policies on national minorities. And these kinds of questions are very relevant for Stalin, who wrote the highly influential, "Marxism and the national question". This is a useful text to read as it debunks the Orientalist criticism of Stalin as a non-intellectual "ogre" that is a common trope in circles like this reading group and also sets up his pro-Jewish policies and eventual status as commisar of nationalities. There are even conspiracy theories about Stalin not writing it, as anti-Stalin groups prefer to pretend he was incapable of such thinking.
Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo
the rev left podcast did an episode about this book with the translator. it's very specifically not a biography of stalin, it's about stalin's reputation & mythology and how that mythology has been shaped by the needs of bourgeoisie/capitalist ideology. it sounds like it would be good for the purpose you have in mind.
free pdf: https://www.iskrabooks.org/_files/ugd/ec1faf_2d8a8a045ef442a4bc367697d9231c01.pdf
this book also includes a chapter specifically about construction of stalin as an antisemite and how that ties into the double genocide theory, which starts about page 200 in the pdf linked above
I think Losurdo is a bit much to jump into if they're still at the "Lenin is bad" stage. Losurdo is pretty dense and reads like a historiography. I doubt OP's friends know basic Soviet history, so they should probably start by learning about the Russian Revolution.
yeah fair enough. I started reading the bit I highlighted about antisemitism and it's pretty dense. you really have to give a shit to get into it
The more condescending it is towards anarchists, the better.
You're getting reported for Bad faith trolling and sectarianism. 
I'm taking the l
You're getting an 
This is the worst advice possible.
It is indeed
I got bitted 
the user is an anarchist
Can't tell if this is sarcastic or not since it is hard to read tone via text, but my intent is not to be condescending. Most of my friends are anarchists and I was one myself until extremely recently, and it is still a position that I respect.
I would like to approach this by having readings that open up dialogue so that I don't get kneejerk "fuck Stalin/Lenin" reactions when communism is mentioned.
I was being sarcastic because i have been through this debate a million times from the anarchist side and most of the time no dialogue developed on it because of the condescension from the other side and the fact that they weren't trying to inform me about Marxism but wanted to CONVERT me. So if you're really just looking into getting them to know it even if they don't agree with it i say it doesn't even matter that much what you show (but yeah, State and Rev is an obvious starter).
Just be prepared that they might not like it. I don't know how well versed in anarchist theory they are, but there's ample "debunking" (putting it in quotation marks cause the quality of these is umm, varied) so it's not at all given that they will accept the leninist conclusion. I have read through about half of the works suggested in this thread and am still thoroughly anarchist and have my beef with Lenin and (especially) Stalin.
Lenin's "The State and Revolution" should be a good entry point for them. He pulls a lot from anarchist ideas and analyzes how they worked in pre-Soviet Russia to form a conclusion which should be digestible to your friends.
Sounds like they need to understand history more. China Mieville's October is a good overview of the Russian Revolution and gets into a reasonable amount of detail on all the factions. By the end of it they should be rooting for Lenin.
It's only unfortunate that it ends with the author going on a diatribe against Stalin as a sort of weird epilogue. But I think that's worth it if you can get them to see Lenin's place in the world. Or like others said, pick Lenin's writings.
ww2 eastern front wiki
teach them the dialectics by reading them the preface to antiduhring, or give them feuerbach and the end of classical german ideology, or engels' letters
Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed could be viable, it portrays the heroism of kronstadt sailors while still focusing on the revolution. Also I was surprised do find out that the very first law that got ratified took a strong anti-antisemitic stance but only the law gets cited and I dont remember anything else about jews unfortunately
Parenti would probably be my go-to pick. If you want I could forward your question to some Jewish comrades of mine who's more well-read in that sphere of history.
Blackshirts and Reds is great for this purpose.
Not just because of the content, but because it is very short and written simply. An anti-Lenin group of anarchists will be mostly people that literally do not read books to challenge themselves. In addition to being a sick burn it is also generally true, even in reading groups.
I have been in anarchist-dominated reading groups where all they wanted to read were extended pamphlets from anarchists. Sometimes anonymous modern anarchists with no stated relevant experience in what they were writing about or cited sources, just a vaguely left lsnguage dump on, I shit you not, why anarchists should volunteer to fight Russia in Ukraine. The other type of reading they did that was actual books tended to be "lived experiences" explorations centered on liberal identity politics. Useful for picking up some context but politically incoherent and highly liberal.
Thirding. I identify as an anarchist. I recently read Black shirts and Red. It had a lot of criticisms of Soviet Russia that were based in history. The criticisms were done in a way that it was easy to see the faults, but you can also see ways to avoid. It was a great work that's valuable to all leftists
seconding Parenti, as an anarchist
Thank you, I would love that!
Follow-up he also suggests the following
https://ujpfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The_BIG_LIE_MOSES_MILLER.pdf
Personally I'd suggest giving them all a once-over to gaugue how well your audience may receive them since you know them the best.
That said if nothing else it's a treasure trove for you to enrich your noggin with some good theoretical slop
I appreciate you reaching out to your friend, and your friend too for living me some recs. Thank you! I will give these a read.
I got recommended the following
Hyman Lumer in the introduction in this book is all you need for Lenin and the Bund.
Lenin’s state and revolution is also pretty good. Stalin also wrote on the national question.