In the previous two volumes of his political biography of Russian revolutionary Vladimir
Lenin, Tony Cliff traced the development of the Bolshevik Party and the crucial part
it played in the 1917 revolution. This final volume guides us through Lenin’s last years,
when the revolution for which he fought his entire adult life came under siege, from within
and without.
Revolution Besieged examines Lenin’s role in defending the fledgling workers’ state as
the Bolsheviks desperately sought to spread their revolution internationally. This period gave rise to some of Lenin’s most astonishing successes, and his most decisive failures – from the incredible freedoms initially won by the revolutionary workers, to Lenin’s ultimate inability to halt the rise to power of Stalin and the party bureaucracy.
The conclusion of the Bolshevik leader’s life is both tragic and filled with lessons for future generations.