A political and intellectual biographical study of Lenin which focuses on those aspects of his thought and political activities that had a bearing on the accession of the Bolsheviks to power in Russia in 1917 and the creation of the Soviet state. The book places Lenin in the context of his times and shows his relationship to other socialist thinkers. In particular it locates Lenin within the development of Marxist thought in Russia. Its historiographical chapter reveals the political factors which influenced the way biographies of Lenin were written in the Soviet Union. The book makes extensive use of first-hand materials including sources from the Russian archives.

JAMES D. WHITE is Reader in Russian and East European History at the University of Glasgow, UK.

Preface
Introduction
The Making of a Revolutionary
A Party of a New Type
The 1905 Revolution and its Aftermath
The First World War
Lenin as Revolutionary
Lenin in Power
The Lenin Legend
Select Bibliography
Biographical Notes
Chronology
Glossary
Index.