Jack's favourite Marxist books: Leon Trotsky and Bolshevism | Off the Shelf #2
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In this video, Jack Bly Wilson shares his top three Marxist recommendations published by Wellred Books, beginning with Leon Trotsky's *History of the Russian Revolution*, which he considers one of his all-time favorite texts and potentially an ideal starting point for newcomers to Marxism. Wilson praises the book not merely as a collection of economic statistics or rigid abstract schemas, but as a vivid narrative that brings real living people into focus through their passions, aims, aspirations, and ideological debates. By zooming in on individuals, parties, and specific disputes within the broader historical processes—such as the national question and the peculiarities of Russian capitalism—the work offers readers an immersive understanding of how the historical materialist method actually functions to explain events like the Russian Revolution where Trotsky was a key participant.
The second recommendation is Alan Woods' massive volume titled *Bolshevism*, which Wilson describes as a transformative read that significantly accelerated his development as a revolutionary communist while he served as a branch secretary in Leeds. Reading this approximately 1,000-page book allowed him to deeply absorb the rich lessons of the Bolshevik Party and apply those historical experiences directly to his daily work of running his local organization and inspiring comrades around him at the time known as Socialist Appeal. Wilson emphasizes that engaging with such extensive material on Leninism helped elevate his political understanding by connecting past revolutionary struggles, including those faced by Lenin and Trotsky, to practical organizational challenges in contemporary communist movements.
For his third pick, Wilson returns to Leon Trotsky with a comprehensive collection of his writings specifically focused on Britain, noting the book's substantial size as it gathers letters, speeches, articles, and essays selected by Theuns. This text provides a sweeping analysis of British politics, society, and history, covering topics ranging from English philosophy and the unique characteristics of early capitalism to the tumultuous class struggles of the 1920s, including the general strike and betrayals within the labor movement. Wilson particularly highlights Trotsky's patient guidance offered in volumes addressing communist tactics and strategy during the 1930s, where he advised immature embryonic forces on how to orient themselves toward mass organizations like the Labour Party and the Independent Labour Party while navigating complex issues of entryism, sectarianism, and united fronts.
Ultimately, Wilson concludes that these three books collectively demonstrate a methodological approach that remains relevant for communists today regardless of their geographic location or specific historical context. He argues that understanding how Trotsky employed his analytical tools to tutor early British Trotskyist groups helps modern readers comprehend how to orient themselves toward major current events and challenges facing the working class globally. Even if one is not from Britain, Wilson strongly recommends exploring these texts because they reveal the depth of moral, psychological, and philosophical underpinnings behind reformist leadership failures while providing a clear framework for applying historical lessons to present-day revolutionary practice.
Read the full video transcript
Hey everyone, I'm Jack Bly Wilson. I'm
the editor of communist.red and here are
my top three picks from Wellred Books.
So, we're going to start with one of my
all-time favorite Marxist texts, which
is History of the Russian Revolution by
Leon Trotsky. I read this about a year
or two ago, I think, and I wish I read
it sooner.
Uh I think it's one of Trotsky's finest
works, to be honest with you.
Um yeah, he really goes through not just
the, you know, the broader historical
processes of like, you know, the
national question, the development of
consciousness, uh you know, the
peculiarities of of Russian capitalism,
and so on. But, he really zooms in to
individuals and and parties and
ideological debates and disputes and all
these types of things. And you really
get a rich sense of uh yeah, what the
historical materialist method actually
is. It's not just, you know, uh economic
statistics and graphs and and rigid
abstract schema. It's about real living
people with, you know, passions and and
and uh aims and aspirations and ideas.
You really get a sense of the real world
of events that was the Russian
Revolution, which obviously Trotsky was
a key participant in. So, yeah.
Definitely one of my number one picks,
and I would say that even if you're
quite new to Marxism, this could be the
first book that you read and you'll
still get a lot from it. It's a It's
It's almost like a novel, basically.
It's a It's a story. It really brings uh
these events to life. So, yeah. That's
number one.
And number two is this this big boy
right here, Bolshevism. It's about 1,000
pages, I think. But, I remember uh I
read this. It's by Alan Woods.
Uh probably about a year after I started
um you know, coming along to uh the RCP
uh um events. Uh it was called Socialist
Appeal back then. And I remember I I I
read this as I was kind of uh becoming a
branch secretary in in my branch. And I
actually remember like reading it, I
really could feel myself kind of uh
yeah, absorbing all of the lessons,
those rich lessons of the Bolshevik
Party. And I was I could apply those the
those same experiences that Lenin and
and and Trotsky and so on were going
through to the work that I was doing day
by day, trying to run my branch, trying
to uh yeah, trying to inspire the
comrades around me um in Leeds at the
time. So, yeah, I I really felt like
this, uh, book elevated kind of my level
of political understanding and and
really, um,
yeah, it was the work kind of
accelerated my my development as a as a
revolutionary communist. So, yeah,
definitely would read this, um,
yeah, Bolshevism, great book.
And the last one is Trotsky's writings
on Britain. I'm going to have to Trotsky
again because, uh, yeah, he's my one of
my favorite Marxist writers. But, again,
I read this actually quite early on to
being a Marxist and and being involved
in the in the RCP. And again, it's quite
a big book, it's quite a hefty tome.
But, yeah, I mean, it's a real kind of,
uh, broad sweep of uh of of, you know,
British politics, British society,
history, and so on. Uh, it's basically
all of Trotsky's writings from like
letters and speeches and articles and so
on, just collected together and and and
and uh selected by Theens. Um, so, yeah,
it goes through like, you know, English
philosophy, um, the peculiarities of uh
of, you know, English capitalism,
obviously the first, uh, capitalist
country to really kind of kind of
emerge. And then he takes you also
through the sort of tumultuous, uh,
class struggle of the 1920s, the general
strike, the betrayals of the labor
leaders, all these kinds of things. And
again, really delves into questions of
like morality, psychology, philosophy,
as, you know, one of the underpinnings
of, uh, you know, reformist, uh, leaders
in the labor movement. So, yeah, I
really enjoyed the the text Where Is
Britain Going in particular. And the
last thing I really enjoyed about this
text as well as the third volume, which
goes over questions of, uh, communist
tactics and uh and strategy. You know,
Trotsky was trying to, uh,
uh, tutor the very early kind of
embryonic forces of, uh, Trotskyism in
Britain back in the in the '30s. And to
be honest, they were all a bit crap, you
know, they had made a lot of mistakes,
they were quite immature, uh, uh, and
they didn't really know exactly how to
orient the events that were going on
around them. But, Trotsky kind of
patiently explains to them how to
orient, yeah, towards mass organizations
like, uh, the Labour Party at the time,
which was a a workers' party, uh, and
the ILP as well, which was kind of a
left-wing, uh, split off from that. And
yeah, it talks about questions of uh,
entryism, and sectarianism, the United
Front, all of these types of things. And
I think, yeah, really seeing the method
that Trotsky employs
helps you kind of understand how we can
orient as as a communist party today to
all the big events that have taken
place. So, yeah, Writings on Britain,
even if you're not from Britain or
living in Britain, I would definitely
recommend reading this book. So, yeah,
those are my top three.