The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism

"The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism" is a critical work on socialism by the British social critic Bertrand Russell. He wrote this book shortly after visiting the Soviet Union following the Russian Revolution. As a socialist, he would find and describe the positive sides of the new socialist order. In reality, he didn't like what he saw. Instead of a new kind of democracy, one not corrupted by the power the capitalists had over democracy in the West, he saw a new kind of dictatorship. The new order combined aspects of the French Revolution with the Islamic religion during the life of Muhammad. Although Bolsheviks claimed they had established the dictatorship of the proletariat, Russel saw it as a dictatorship of Vladimir Lenin, who had never been a plant worker.