Marxism and the USA by Alan Woods was the first title produced by Wellred USA. Out of print for some time, it will soon be back with a new cover and an updated introduction by John Peterson, editor of Socialist Revolution. The book was written at a time when George W. Bush was president, a time when many around the world - including many on the left - considered the U.S. to be one reactionary bloc, devoid of class struggle or revolutionary potential. Woods' aim was to dispel these misconceptions, draw on the marvelous traditions of struggle throughout U.S. history, and inspire those new to the ideas of Marxism to learn more - and get involved. Providing one example after another, he showed how the ideas of socialism and communism are not recent, "foreign" importations, but have deep roots in the American tradition itself. He also debunks many of the common misconceptions Americans have about socialism, taking up the question of socialism and religion, freedom vs. dictatorship, an explanation of what happened in the Soviet Union and more. Today there is an immense polarization of wealth in the U.S. between the extremely rich and the extremely poor. The years of boom have come to an end. In spite of its immense power, U.S. capitalism has entered a phase of terminal decline along with the rest of the world. This is reflected in the questioning by many ordinary working Americans of the society they live in. The ideas of Marxism can explain why society finds itself in this impasse and also offer a way out to American workers and youth. The American people and above all the American working class have a great revolutionary tradition. On the basis of great historical events they are destined to rediscover these traditions and to stand once more in the front line of the revolution as they did in 1776 and 1861. The future of the entire world ultimately depends on this perspective. And although today it may seem very far off, it is not so incredible as one might think. Marxism and the USA will serve as an introduction to the rich revolutionary history of the United States. The expanded second edition includes appendices on the 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strike, the early history of the Socialist Party, Shays's Rebellion, and Engels on the need for a labor party.

Marxism and the USA

History

Woods, Alan

Americas

Wellred

Reformism or Revolution

Business & Money

Economics

Felix Morrow's book, written in the white heat of the struggle, remains a Marxist classic on the Spanish Civil War. The 1930s was a period of revolution and counter-revolution in which Spain was at the very epicenter of events. It remains the clearest account of the movement of the Spanish proletariat, which took power in Catalonia, but was betrayed by the Popular Front government. It describes the heroic struggles waged by the workers and peasants, which, in the words of Leon Trotsky could have carried through ten revolutions. Morrow describes in detail the failure of the anarchists, whose leaders entered the bourgeois government, as well as that of the POUM, the centrist party of the revolution. In particular, the book describes the role of the Stalinists, who under the orders of Moscow supported the bourgeois republic's suppression of the revolution. In the wake of the Moscow frame-up trials, the GPU, Stalin's secret police, sent agents to Spain to murder Spanish revolutionaries, which prepared the way for the eventual victory of Franco. Few books of the period have stood the test of time better than Morrow's, supplemented in this edition by an earlier article, The Civil War in Spain. We also include a foreword by Ted Grant written in 1973, which covers the same periods and provides a valuable addition to this work. A study of these tragic events will help arm a new generation of workers and youth with the lessons of the bitter defeats of the 1930s and equip them with the knowledge to finally carry through the struggle began so many years ago. In the great words of Spinoza, "ours is not to laugh or to weep, but to learn."

Revolution & Counter-Revolution in Spain

Morrow, Felix

Europe

At the beginning of the 21st century, science and philosophy are at the crossroads. The achievements of science and technology in the previous century are unparalleled in history. They provide the potential for the solution of all the problems faced by the planet, and equally for its total destruction. Allegedly scientific theories are being used to "prove" that criminality is caused, not by social conditions, but by a "criminal gene." Black people are alleged to be disadvantaged, not because of discrimination, but because of their genetic make-up. Similar arguments are used for poor people, single mothers, women, and so on. Of course, such "science" is highly convenient for right wing politicians intent on ruthlessly cutting welfare. In the field of theoretical physics and cosmology there is a growing tendency towards mysticism. The "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe is being used to justify the existence of a Creator, as in the book of Genesis. For the first time in centuries, science appears to lend credence to religious obscurantism. Yet that is only one side of the story. A growing number of scientists are becoming discontented with the old outlook. The rapid rise of the theory of chaos and complexity is one of the most significant developments in science at the present time. Many of the ideas expressed by this new trend are strikingly similar to the theories of dialectical materialism worked out by Marx and Engels over 160 years ago. A significant part of this present work is devoted to an explanation of the relationship between Marxist philosophy and the new theories. Will this encounter provide the basis for a new and exciting breakthrough in the methodology of science?

Reason in Revolt: Marxist Philosophy and Modern Science

Politics & Social Sciences

Grant, Ted

Philosophy

Dialectics of Nature is one of the classics of Marxist liturature. Engels, analysing the advances of science, demonstrates how dialectical materialism, the philosophy of Marxism, corresponds to the very way in which nature unfolds. The revolutionary advances of nineteenth century science, most notably the discovery of the cell, the law of conservation and transformation of energy, and Darwinian evolution, provided the material basis for a dialectical understanding of nature. For Engels, the dialectics of human history grew out of the dialectics of nature. Throughout the work, Engels battles with various unscientific schools of thought prevalent among scientists, especially idealism and vulgar materialism. Dialectics of Nature deals more fully than any other work of Marxism with such problems and categories of dialectics such as causality, chance (freedom) and necessity, relationship of induction and deduction, and many more. Even though unfinished, this outstanding work is amazing for its rich and profound theoretical content. Despite certain aspects being obsolete, notably some factual data and timescales, resulting from the prevailing state of natural science at that time, the general method and conception of the book remain valid today. The book also contains Engels' brilliant essay, The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, which explains how and by what means our species originated. It has been described by Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin as capturing "the essential feature of human evolution."

Dialectics of Nature

ENGELS, FREDERICK

Science & Math

Ted Grant was a well-known figure in the international Marxist movement. He had a significant impact on British politics. When he died all the most important newspapers carried extensive obituaries that recognised this fact. This is a remarkable work that comprehensively covers the development of Ted's life and ideas, starting from his early family background in Johannesburg right up to his death in London in 2006 at the age of 93. From his earliest youth in South Africa Ted Grant dedicated his life to the struggle for the emancipation of the working class. Moving to Britain in 1934 to seek new horizons, within a decade he had become the leading theoretician of the Trotskyist movement. The book deals with the launch of the Fourth International and Ted's battle to defend the ideas of Trotsky, which brought him into conflict with the leaders of the International after the Second World War. It explains the important theoretical questions and debates of this period and it outlines Ted Grant's important theoretical contribution to Marxism. Ted was the founder and theoretical inspirer of the Militant Tendency, which Michael Crick once described as the fifth political party in Britain. The book traces the rise and fall of Militant. It provides a fascinating insight into a subject that remains a closed book to most political analysts even now. This is a truly amazing story of a truly amazing man, told with style, colour and wit. At the end you will feel that you have known Ted Grant all your life. The author, Alan Woods, has written many books on Marxism, was influential in the political evolution of Hugo Chávez and is the editor of the widely read website Marxist.com. He is a leading figure in the Socialist Appeal and the International Marxist Tendency.

Ted Grant: The Permanent Revolutionary

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

The Classics of Marxism: Volume 1

This book contains four classic writings of Marxism by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. There is no better explanation of Marxism than in the words of its foremost thinkers. This volume includes: The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Frederick Engels. The State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin. The Transitional Programme by Leon Trotsky.

Lenin, Vladimir

Marx,Karl

Lenin and Trotsky: What They Really Stood For (Arabic Edition)

Military

From 1918 to 1933 revolution and counter-revolution followed hot on each others' heels. The barbarity of the Nazis is well-documented. Less well-known are the events that preceded Hitler's rise to power. Rob Sewell gives a picture of the tumultuous events - the 1918 revolution, the collapse of the Kaiser's regime, the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, the Kapp putsch in 1920, the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 and the ensuing revolutionary upheavals culminating in the abortive Hamburg uprising, finally Hitler's rise to power in 1929-33. Above all this book shows in the decisive and tragic role of the German workers'  leadership the answer to one of the key questions of the modern era: How was it possible for the mightiest labour movement in Europe to be trampled under the iron heel of fascism? This edition features several new articles by Rob Sewell, including an analysis of the pre-revolutionary situation Britain faced in 1919.

Germany: From Revolution to Counter Revolution

Sewell, Rob

The Revolution Betrayed is one of the most important Marxist texts of all time. It is the only serious Marxist analysis of what happened to the Russian Revolution after the death of Lenin. In this book, Trotsky provided a brilliant and profound analysis of Stalinism, which has never been improved upon, let alone superseded. With a delay of 60 years, it was completely vindicated by history.  Without a thorough knowledge of this work, it is impossible to understand the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the events since then in Russia and on a world scale.  This remarkable work predicted the fate of the USSR down to the last detail. In the period of so-called market reform, Russia experienced the biggest collapse in world economic history. Just in the first five years alone, the economy contracted by a staggering sixty percent. Such a drop is unprecedented in economic history. It was like a catastrophic defeat in war. The collapse of the USSR has led to social disintegration. The elements of barbarism have all reappeared. Poverty, beggary, drunkenness, drug addiction, prostitution, crime, epidemics have spread to an unparalleled degree. Sections of the youth are affected by lumpenisation. At the same time, the mafia capitalists have accrued massive wealth by plundering the former nationalised industries as well as the rich sources of oil and other resources.  The bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet Union and its eventual fall must be carefully studied, if we are to be able to answer the questions of the workers and youth. And the best explanation that can be found is in the pages of this wonderful classic of Marxism.  Only the restoration of a nationalised planned economy can create the conditions for a revival of Russia's colossal productive potential. But this cannot mean a return to the old Stalinist regime. Only a regime of real workers' democracy, along the lines of October 1917, can provide Russia with a way out of the present impasse. As Trotsky points out in a most graphic and profound passage from The Revolution Betrayed, a nationalised planned economy needs democracy as the human body needs oxygen.

The Revolution Betrayed

Literature & Fiction

Trotsky, Léon

Literary

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