Readers Notes

Soviet Union and Stalinism

Informations ouvrières (France), 1 November 2000: Juin 1953: Les Ouvriers de Berlin-Est contre la bureaucratie, the article by Pravda’s East Berlin reporter that it refused to print. See also La Grève générale d’août 1953, in 13 December issue.

Weekly Worker, 16 November 2000: Mary Goodwin, Celebrating the Lessons, learning from the October Revolution; Ron Allen, Leninist Repression, anarchist complaints. See also David Moran, Revolutionary Cheka, in 7 December issue; Ron Allen, Cheka, in 14 December issue.

Independent, 9 December 2000: Russia Votes to Restore Tsarist Flag – and a Stalinist national anthem!

Junge Welt (Germany), 12 December 2000: Klaus Bitterman, Ein “Planet ohne Visum”, Trotsky in Prinkipo.

Guardian, 13 December 2000: Amelia Gentleman, Liberals Put Forward Plan to Bury Lenin, Lenin’s mummy.

Rouge (France), 21 December 2000: Christian Picquet, Le Siècle des communismes: matériaux pour un bilan, Communism in the twentieth century.

Independent, 27 December 2000: Fred Weir, Russians Queue in the Cold for a Last View of their Mummified Icon; Hedrick Smith, My Fleeting Glimpse of the Entombed Soviet Saint, Lenin’s mummy again.

The Times, 29 December 2000: Stalinist Revival, the Georgian Communist Party votes to rehabilitate Stalin.

The Times, 30 December 2000: Lenin Elected, Lenin elected by Russians as Man of the Twentieth Century, with Stalin as runner-up.

Marxist Review, December 2000: Jim Graham, Lenin’s Struggle for Dialectical Materialism.

Observer, 7 January 2001: Boris Efimov, Moscow 1916–1930, the flowering of revolutionary art.

Informations ouvrières, 10 January 2001: La Révolution hongroise des conseils ouvriers de 1956, resolutions of the Hungarian workers councils in 1956. See also Leszek Kołakowski, Pologne 1956: “Ce que n’est pas le socialisme”, What Socialism is Not, a poem from 1956, in 3 January issue; Aimé Césaire, 1956: la rupture d’aimé Césaire avec le PCF, a French Communist Party deputy breaks from the party over its policies on Africa and Eastern Europe, in 7 February issue.

Weekly Worker, 25 January 2001: Darrell Goodliffe, Party and Programme, Lenin and the revolutionary party.

International Review, Winter 2000–01: R.O.L., 1940: The Assassination of Trotsky.

Workers Liberty, January 2001: Paul Hampton, The USSR in Perspective; Boris Souvarine, David Riazanov, extracts from a longer piece.

Weekly Worker, 1 February 2001: Jack Conrad, Programme and the Misreading of History, a critique of the theory of Permanent Revolution. See also his Rescuing Lenin and Trotsky from “Trotskyism”, in 8 February issue, reviving a stages theory of the Russian Revolution, and his Programme: The Test of 1917, and Barry Biddulph, Menshevik Lenin, in 15 February issue.

Independent, 15 February 2001: Robert Chalmers, Welcome to Stalin World, a Gulag-style theme park in Lithuania. See also Stalin World Opens to Visitors, Daily Telegraph, 1 April.

News and Letters (USA), March 2001: Kevin Anderson, Retrieving Lenin in the Twenty-First Century, an academic conference in Essen in February 2001. See also Marc Dormoy, Lénine, le retour?, Rouge, 15 February.

Independent, 17 February 2001: Christopher Hirst, Behind the Scenes at the British Library, Trotsky’s days in the Reading Room in 1902; Isabel Vincent and Vesna Perić Zimanjić, She’s Been Under House Arrest for 24 Years. Now, Finally, Tito’s Widow is Being Set Free, Jovanka Broz let out at last.

Weekly Worker, 22 February 2001: Barry Biddulph, Zinoviev Was Right, defending the theory of Permanent Revolution.

Socialist Appeal, February 2001: Rob Sewell, How the GPU Infiltrated the Trotskyist Movement.

Guardian, 7 March 2001: Ian Buruma, Cult of the Chairman, continuing worship of Mao.

Sunday Times, 25 March 2001: Mark Franchetti, Stalin’s Secret Son by Girl, 14, a liaison in 1914.

International Review, First Quarter 2001: Como, Understanding Kronstadt. See also Léonce Aguirre, 80 ans après Cronstadt: Le mythe de la “tragique necessité”, Rouge, 29 March; Jean-Michel Krivine, G.C. and J.V., Cronstadt, in 1 April issue; Galic Trépère, À propos Cronstadt: L’actualité du bolchévisme, in 2 May issue.

Independent, 16 April 2001: Marion and Jan Sling, Otto Was Out At a Meeting and Didn’t Come Home; I Never Saw Him Again, the Slansky trial.

Workers Vanguard (USA), 27 April 2001: On Maoism and the Peasantry; The Chinese Revolution, Chiang Kai-Shek and US Imperialism.

News and Letters, April 2001: Fred Bustillo, Beyond Materialism, Beyond Post-Marx Marxism, looking at Lenin’s Philosophical Notebooks.

Daily Mirror, 10 May 2001: Lenin’s a Bargain, a Czech statue of Lenin on sale at Sotheby’s.

Communist Review, Spring 2000: Kenny Coyle, Russian Revolution: Debates on Strategy and Tactics.

New Interventions, Spring 2001: Chris Wright, Lenin’s State and Revolution, back to Proudhon?

Labour Movement

Guardian, 14 November 2000: Dave Marshall and Richard Baxell, Last Skirmishes in the Spanish Civil War, more on the International Brigades.

Informations ouvrières, 15 November 2000: La Grève Renault d’avril 1947, the famous Renault strike.

Weekly Worker, 30 November 2000: Ron Allen, Anarchism; Liz Hoskings, CPGB and Trotskyism.

Red Banner (Ireland), November 2000: The Hidden Connolly, an article from October 1915; Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh, Revolutionary Lives: William Morris.

Bulletin of the Marx Memorial Library, Autumn 2000: Harold Smith, The Social Democratic Federation; Bob Pitt, Red Flag Over St Pancras.

Workers Vanguard, 1 December 2000: Emily Turnbull, Marxist Archives and the Training of Trotskyist Cadre, speech to the Tamiment ‘Explorations in the History of US Trotskyism’ Conference.

Weekly Worker, 7 December 2000: Phil Watson, IBT Buzz, defending Stalinism again.

Marxist Review, December 2000: Dave Wiltshire, The Struggle for Workers Power against Bourgeois Democracy.

Socialist Organiser Review, Winter 2000–01: John Archer, Brief Memoirs of a British Revolutionary.

The Times, 1 January 2001: MI5 Saw Little Threat from Dock Militants, the Communist Party and the docks strikes of 1970.

Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka), 14 January 2001: Ajith Samaranayake, Philip Gunawardena: A Centenary Assessment: At the Crossroads of Socialism and Nationalism.

Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), 15 January 2001: Ramalingam (Baggy): A Pioneer of the LSSP (1927–1987), a tribute to R.S. Baghavan, the Trotskyist philosopher.

Action for Solidarity, 26 January 2001: Berlin Marches in Memory of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, 100,000 people take part.

Workers Liberty, January 2001: Janine Booth, A Different Sort of Labour Council, a look at Poplarism; Pablo Velasco, The End of Institutional Revolution, revolutions in Mexican history.

Action for Solidarity, February 2001: Dona Torr, The Birth of the Modern Labour Movement, an extract from her biography of Tom Mann.

Workers Action, March-–April 2001: Amadeo Bordiga, The History of Italian Fascism, introduced by Richard Price.

Frontline, March 2001: Rosa Luxemburg, Progress and Stagnation of Marxism, from 1903.

International Socialism, Winter 2000: Stuart Hood, Memoirs of the Italian Resistance.

Prométhée (France), Winter 2000: Amédée Dunois and Boris Souvarine, documents of the Committee for the Third International, from Bulletin Communiste, 1920–23, introduced by François Ferrette; Notre Parti à 80 Ans, Cahiers Rosa Luxemburg, insert supplement.

London Socialist Historians Group Newsletter, Lent 2001: Ralph Darlington, Revolutionary Syndicalism: A Critical Reassessment; Ian Birchall, Revolutionary History, a plug for this journal.

International Review, First Quarter 2001: Josep Rebull, The May Days, from 1937; On the 1937 May Days in Barcelona; P.A.L., The Vital Rôle of the Left Fractions in the Marxist Tradition.

Prométhée, First Quarter 2001: Albert Savani, Le Centralisme democratique à lépoque de Lénine; and two pieces by Pierre Monatte, an article from La Vie ouvrière, March 1919, and the end of a speech to the Lyons conference of the CGT in September 1919.

Independent, 8 April 2001: Elizabeth Nash, Shadow of Censor Still Mars Orwell’s Catalonia, cuts in the Spanish translation of Homage to Catalonia. See also Jim Grace, A Guide to Life, Sunday Telegraph, 8 April; Henry Ettinghauson, A Slur on Spain, Independent, 15 April.

Informations ouvrières, 11 April 2001: 1968: le déclenchement de la grève generale. See also François de Massot, La Paradox de la grève generale de 1968, in 18 April issue.

Sunday Telegraph, 15 April 2001: Tony Peterson, Historians Find “Proof” That Nazis Burnt Reichstag.

Weekly Worker, 19 April 2001: The Call Goes Out: Formation of the CPGB, extracts from The Call, 24 February 1916, 20 April 1916 and 22 March 1917. Further extracts from The Call, 15, 22 and 29 November 1917 in October Shakes the World, 26 April issue.

Action for Solidarity, April 2001: Sam Davies, Lessons from History: Labour and the Trade Unions.

News and Letters, April 2001: Kevin Anderson, New Luxemburg Collection Highlights Feminist Dimension; Linda Edmondson, Lives of Rosa Luxemburg, repackaging Luxemburg as a feminist.

Weekly Worker, 3 May 2001: Jack Conrad, From War to Aborted General Strike, the early years of the Communist Party of Great Britain. See also his General Strike 75 Years On: Mistakes and Mythology, in 10 May issue.

The Times, 4 May 2001: Prime Minister Fails to Avert General Strike, from 4 May 1926 issue.

The Times, 8 May 2001: May Day Protesters, rally addressed by Ben Tillett, from 8 May 1893 issue.

Weekly Worker, 10 May 2001: Martin Thomas, CPGB’s Party Fetishism, Lenin and the Labour Party.

London Socialist Historians Group Newsletter, Summer 2001: Mick Cox, E.H. Carr and Isaac Deutscher: A Very Special Relationship.

New Interventions, Spring 2001: James D. Young, Eric J. Hobsbawm; Jim Higgins, Tony Cliff.

1917, no. 23, 2001: James P. Cannon, A Diversion and an Obstacle, Henry Wallace’s presidential campaign in 1948.

What Next?, no. 17, 2001: Raymond Challinor, Military Resistance and Working-Class Resistance in World War II; Mike Jones, Karl Korsch: Some Comments.

What Next?, no. 18, 2001: John Archer, Trotskyists and the Labour Party: Some Lessons from History; Harry Ratner, The Fourth International in Perspective; Keith Flett, Once More on the Great Dock Strike of 1889; Matthew Willgress, Audrey Wise: Some Further Comments.

La Vérité, special English-language edition: Alan Benjamin, Leon Trotsky and the Founding of the American Section of the Fourth International; Manuel Cuso, Leon Trotsky: Fighter for the Spanish Revolution (1931–1937); Luis Vasquez, Leon Trotsky and the Mexican Revolution; a discussion between Pierre Lambert and Russian militants on the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Lambert’s speech on 26 August 2000 at Lev Sedov’s grave. Available from Bill Holdsworth, 41 Glennie Road, London SE27.

Miscellaneous

Guardian, 9 December 2000: Ray Belsarrio, Oliver’s Army, attempting to form a Leveller Society in the 1970s.

Guardian, 11 December 2000: R.W. Morrell and V.C. Tomkinson, Cheers for the Republic, celebrating Tom Paine.

Weekly Worker, 21 December 2000: Jack Conrad, Christianity and the Decline of Rome; Michael Malkin, Karl Marx and Religion, part 1; parts 2, 3 and 4 in 1 February and 1 and 29 March 2001 issues.

Critique Communiste (France), Winter 2000–01: Antoine Artous, Révolution et democratie, Jacques Texier, Formes de l’état moderne, stratégie et émancipation, excellent historical analyses.

Action for Solidarity, 26 January 2001: F.A. Ridley, The First Class War, from his Spartacus.

Guardian, 20 January 2001: J.M. Coetzee, The Man Who Went Shopping for Truth, Walter Benjamin; Maya Jaggi, Conscience of a Nation, Noam Chomsky and anarchism.

News and Letters, December 2000: Mitch Weerth, Marx’s Critique of the Gotha Programme 125 Year Later.

Rouge, 8 February 2001: Christian Piquet, Louis-Auguste Blanqui: “Profession prolétaire”.

Workers Vanguard, 16 February 2001: Susan Adams, Women and the French Revolution.

The Times, 24 February 2001: Horrible Conspiracy to Assassinate His Majesty’s Ministers, the Cato Street Conspiracy, from 24 February 1820 issue.

Socialist Appeal, February 2001: Alan Woods, The Truth About the Easter Rising.

Independent, 9 March 2001: Steve Connor, The Axe Swings, The Man Talks, the part played by labour in the transition from ape to man.

Freedom, 10 March 2001: Iain McKay, The Lessons of Paris, the Commune. See also Jean-Michel Krivine, La Commune n’est pas morte, Rouge, 15 March 2001.

The Times, 12 March 2001: Victims Beatified, Catholic victims of the Spanish Civil War given posthumous recognition by the Pope.

Guardian, 20 March 2001: Paul Foot, Last Time Paris Went Left, the Commune.

Marxist Review, March 2001: Nick Axarlis, Archæologists Confront Imperialist Ideology, applying Bernal’s banalities to the ancient world.

Prométhée, First Quarter 2001: Daniel Guérin, La Révolution française, berceau de la démocratie des conseils, from 1944–46.

Informations ouvrières, 4 April 2001: Vive la Commune de Paris!, part 1; parts 2 and 3 in 11 and 18 April issues.

Sunday Times, 8 April 2001: Tom Rhodes, America Seeks a Complete Paine, trying to reassemble Paine’s body.

Guardian, 5 May 2001: Timothy Garton-Ash, Orwell For Our Time.

Observer, 6 May 2001: Jason Burke, Schama’s TV Trial of “War Criminal” Cromwell, the myth of Drogheda and Wexford again.

Observer, 13 May 2001: Tony Benn, Set My People Free, the Levellers and Diggers.

Reviews

Roman Brackman, The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life: reviewed by Christopher Andrew, Stalin’s Dark Secret, Sunday Times, 1 April 2001.

John Charlton, It Just Went Like Tinder: The Mass Movement and New Unionism in Britain, 1889: reviewed by Martin Sullivan, Labour History: Engels versus the SWP, What Next?, no. 17, 2001.

Jean-Christophe Combadel, Chuchotement de la Vérité, Trotskyism and French Students: reviewed by Pierre Dandot and Benjamin Stora, Une histoire qui reste à écrire, Critique Communiste, Summer–Autumn 2000.

Mary Davis, Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life in Radical Politics: reviewed by Katrine Williams, Socialism Today, March 2001.

Megan Delahunt, In the Blue House, novel about Trotsky and Freda Kahlo: Stephanie Merritt, It’s Lev at First Sight, Observer, 13 May 2001.

Paul Flewers, I Know How But I Don’t Know Why: George Orwell’s Conception of Totalitarianism: reviewed by K.A.Z., Typical Trot, Socialist Standard, February 2001.

Manuel Grossi, The Asturian Uprising: reviewed by Nick Davies, Early Days of the Spanish Revolution, Workers Action, March–April 2001.

Chris Harman, A People’s History of the World: reviewed by Nigel Harris, Consolations from the Past, Economic and Political Weekly, 3 June 2000.

Jonathan Haslam, The Vices of Integrity: E.H. Carr, 1892–1982: reviewed by Brian Manning, History and Socialism, International Socialism, Spring 2001.

James Holstun, Ehud’s Dagger: Class Struggle in the English Revolution: reviewed by Lisa Jardine, The Killer, a King and his Lover, Observer, 10 December 2000.

William Jones, The Lost Debate: German Socialist Intellectuals and Totalitarianism: reviewed by Edgar Sims, The USSR, Totalitarianism and Class, Workers Liberty, January 2001.

Georg Lukács, In Defence of History and Class Consciousness: Tailism and the Dialectic: reviewed by George Steiner, True Leninist, Times Literary Supplement, 13 October 2000; Mark O’Brien, A Comment on Tailism and the Dialectic, International Socialism, Winter 2000; Phil Watson, SWP and Lukács: Significant Engagement, Weekly Worker, 18 January 2001; Barry Biddulph, Tailism, Weekly Worker, 25 January.

Frank McLynn, Villa and Zapata: A Biography of the Mexican Revolution: reviewed by Peter Taaffe, State of Revolution, Socialism Today, April 2001.

Brian Manning, Contemporary Histories of the English Civil War: reviewed by J.F., Conflicts around Parliament before the English Civil War, Marxist Review, December 2000.

Jeffrey Meyers, Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation: reviewed by Bill Saunders, Southwold’s Black Sheep, Independent, 12 November 2000.

Dave Renton, Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940s, reviewed by Sarah Glynn, Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Britain in the 1940s, London Socialist Historians Group Newsletter, Lent 2001.

Revolutionary History, Volume 7, no. 3: reviewed by Martin Sullivan, Trotskyism and the Cuban Revolution, What Next?, no. 18, 2001.

Revolutionary History, Volume 7, no. 4: reviewed by Ian Donovan, Legacy of a Pioneer French Communist, Weekly Worker, 8 March 2001.

Robert Service, Lenin: A Biography: reviewed by Megan Trudell, Setting the Record Straight, International Socialism, Winter 2000; Nicholas Lezard, Monster, Weirdo or Policy Wonk?, Guardian, 10 March 2001; Lenin: A Biography, Observer, 11 March; Lenin: A Biography, Sunday Telegraph, 11 March; Matthew Readhead, The Times, 21 April.

Jim Smyth, Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Union: Ireland in the 1790s: reviewed by F.S., The Revolutionary 1790s in Ireland, Marxist Review, April 2001.

Ngo Van, Au Pays de la cloche fêlée, memoirs of a Vietnamese Trotskyist: reviewed by Jean Narédo, Rouge, 22 March 2001.

Francis Wheen, Karl Marx: reviewed by Patricia McManus, Any Marx is Better than no Marx?, Red Banner, November 2000.

James D. Young, The World of C.L.R. James: His Unfragmented Vision: reviewed by Kent Worcester, The Real C.L.R. James, Workers Liberty, January 2001.

Obituaries

J. Albarracin, Spanish Trotskyist and economist: G. Buster, J. Albarracin, 1943–2001, Rouge, 15 March 2001.

Kenneth Alexander, economist, former Stalinist and New Left luminary: Charlie Alan, Sir Kenneth Alexander, Guardian, 30 March 2001; see also Ian Birchall’s letter in 17 April issue.

John Archer, veteran British Trotskyist: Bob Archer, John Archer (1909–2000), Workers International Press, March 2001; Charlie Van Gelderen, Obituary: John Archer; Alan Thornett, An Ally Against Healy, Socialist Outlook, January 2001; John Archer (1909–2000), The Organiser (USA), January; François de Massot, John Archer (1909–2000), Informations ouvrières, 10 January; Mike Calvert, John Archer, 1909–2000: A Personal Tribute to a Revolutionary Life, What Next?, no 18; Richard Price, John Archer (1909–2000), Workers Action, March–April.

Ralph Bates, writer and fighter in the Asturian Uprising and Spanish Civil War, Ralph Bates, The Times, 8 December 2000; Valentine Cunningham, Ralph Bates, Guardian, 12 December; Alan Munton, Ralph Bates, Independent, 14 December.

Hoang Binh, veteran Vietnamese Trotskyist: Hoang Khoa Khai, Hoang Binh (1905–2000), Rouge, 30 November 2000.

Gerald Brenan, author of The Spanish Labyrinth: Giles Tremlett, Spain’s Bloomsbury Chronicler Laid to Rest in Malaga, Independent, 22 January 2001.

Len Crome, Stalinist and chairman of the International Brigades Association: Dr Len Crome, The Times, 8 May 2001; Paul Preston, Len Crome, Guardian, 12 May.

David Crook, Stalinist who spied on anarchists and POUMists in Spain and on Chinese Trotskyists, and jailed during the Cultural Revolution: Delia Davin, David Crook, Guardian, 18 December 2000.

Rob Dawber, Trotskyist militant: Ken Loach, Rob Dawber, Guardian, 23 February 2001; Ken Loach, Mark Serwotka, Sean Matgamna and Mark Fischer, Celebrating the Life of Rob Dawber, Action for Solidarity, 23 March; Sean Matgamna, A Life for the Class Struggle, in 2 March issue.

Dave Goodman, Stalinist and International Brigader: International Brigader Dies Aged 85, Morning Star, 5 January 2001; Chris Phillipson, Dave Goodman, Guardian, 29 January.

Raymond Gorin, French Trotskyist and professor of medicine: Michel Lequenne, Raymond Gorin, Rouge, 4 January 2001.

Fred Green, British Trotskyist: Dot Gibson, Fred Green (1937–2000), Workers International Press, March 2001.

Stanley Harrison, chief sub-editor of the Morning Star: Peter Avis, Stanley Harrison, Guardian, 12 February 2001.

Maurice Levitas, Stalinist academic, veteran of Cable Street and the Spanish Civil War: Eric Gordon, Maurice Levitas, Guardian, 7 March 2001.

Mattie Merrigan, Irish Trotskyist and union leader: Gene Kerrigan, Matt Merrigan: An Unreasonable Man for the Union’s Good, Sunday Independent (Ireland), 18 June 2000; Michael O’Reilly, Matt Merrigan: A Marvellous Legacy; D.R. O’Connor Lysaght, Matt Merrigan: A Political Assessment, Red Banner, November.

Wilf Page, Stalinist and agricultural workers union official: Francis Beckett, Wilf Page, Guardian, 20 April 2001; Peter Kentfield, Wilf Page, Independent, 12 May.

Ross Pritchard, former member of the International Socialists and print union activist: Tony Dubbins and Murray Armstrong, Ross Pritchard, Guardian, 17 January 2001.

Lance Rogers, Independent Labour Party member and Spanish Civil War veteran: Tony Heath, Lance Rogers, Independent, 14 March 2001.

Alf Salisbury, Stalinist trade unionist, veteran of Cable Street and the Spanish Civil War: Veteran Communist Alf Salisbury Dies, Morning Star, 8 November 2000; Roger Sutton, Alf Salisbury, Guardian, 8 December.

Bill Wainwright, Stalinist and wartime slanderer-in-chief of Trotskyists: George Matthews, Bill Wainwright, Guardian, 16 November 2001; see also Ian Birchall’s clarification in 25 November issue.