Before Stalinism is a historical study of democratic life and institutions and their decline in the early years of the Russian Revolution. While attempting to synthesize a wealth of available historical material, the author assesses the extent to which the disappearance of Soviet democracy was due to objective circumstances, for example the impact of the Civil War, and the extent to which it was the result of Bolshevik politics and ideology. The author shows how there were, contrary to later Stalinist and Cold War mythologies, significant disputes within the pre-Stalinist Bolshevik camp about the preservation of the substantial democratic elements of the October upheaval.

A political portrait focused on Guevara's thought and political record aimed at dispelling many of the myths about the revolutionary. This re-examination of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara's thoughts on socialism, democracy and revolution is a must-read for today's activists - or anyone longing to fight for a better world. Fifty years after his death, Guevara remains a symbol to legions of young rebels and revolutionaries. This unique book provides a way to critically engage with Guevara's economic views, his ideas about revolutionary agency and more.

Uncritically lauded by the left and impulsively denounced by the right, the Cuban Revolution is almost universally viewed one dimensionally. Samuel Farber, one of its most informed left-wing critics, provides a much needed critical assessment of the Revolution's impact and legacy.

Samuel Farber was born and raised in Marianao, Cuba, and came to the United States in February 1958. His scholarship on Cuba includes two previous books, "Revolution and Reaction in Cuba, 1933-1960 "and "Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered." Farber was active in the Cuban high school student movement against Fulgencio Batista, and has been involved in socialist politics for more than fifty years.

Revolution and Reaction in Cuba, 1933-1960 is an historical study of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and at the same time an explanation of Castro's rise to power. Rather than an event-by-event description of this upheaval. it is a careful consideration of the entire period from the Revolution of 1933 until early in 1960 when Cuba became openly and fully Communist. Applying the techniques of the sociological method to his examination of historical facts. Mr. Farber places as much emphasis on Cuban society during this crucial period as on Cuban politics. He examines the development of political groups in terms of how they emerged from, or were expressions of, the Cuban class structure, emphasizing the impact of the events of the 1933 Revolution in forming attitudes and institutions important to the Revolution of 1959. His conclusions deny the commonly accepted thesis that the Castro revolution was created by the revolt of a particular class. He categorizes it instead as Bonapartist in the Marxian sense of the word. That is, as having had a revolutionary leadership not directly responsive to any single class, but rather manipulative of all classes since none alone was strong enough to dominate.

Analyzing the crucial period of the Cuban Revolution from 1959 to 1961, Samuel Farber challenges dominant scholarly and popular views of the revolution's sources, shape, and historical trajectory. Unlike many observers, who treat Cuba's revolutionary leaders as having merely reacted to U.S. policies or domestic socioeconomic conditions, Farber shows that revolutionary leaders, while acting under serious constraints, were nevertheless autonomous agents pursuing their own independent ideological visions, although not necessarily according to a master plan. Exploring how historical conflicts between U.S. and Cuban interests colored the reactions of both nations' leaders after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista, Farber argues that the structure of Cuba's economy and politics in the first half of the twentieth century made the island ripe for radical social and economic change, and the ascendant Soviet Union was on hand to provide early assistance. Taking advantage of recently declassified U.S. and Soviet documents as well as biographical and narrative literature from Cuba, Farber focuses on three key years to explain how the Cuban rebellion rapidly evolved from a multiclass, antidictatorial movement into a full-fledged social revolution.