Books

I certainly think people should read more than one book a year, but if you read only one book this year, it should be Ted Grant: The Permanent Revolutionary, the new by Alan Woods. Who was Ted Grant and why is this book so important?

We are pleased to announce the publication of the new biography of Ted Grant written by his friend and collaborator for more than 50 years, Alan Woods. Below we bring you a review of the book.

The first volume of Ted Grant's collected writings is at the printer's and will soon be available to order from Wellred Books. Here we provide the Introduction which gives an outline of the period, the development of the WIL in the early years of the Second World War and the role of Ted Grant as he emerged as the main theoretician of the Trotskyist movement in Britain. Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of Ted's death and we are commemorating it by making his works available to today's generation of revolutionary Marxists.

The second edition of Marxism and the U.S.A. is now available from Wellred Books. The new edition is greatly expanded, including all new appendices and this new introduction by John Peterson, National Secretary of the Workers International League.

New from Wellred USA! The first US edition of Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution by Alan Woods. This monumental 500+ page study of the history of growth and development of Bolshevism demolishes the myths of both Stalinist and pro-capitalist historians of the Russian Revolution. Order your copy online from Wellred USA now and save $4 off the cover price.

The Pakistan Revolution of 1968-69 was one of the greatest revolutionary movements of the 20^th century. It is rich in lessons and Lal Khan's book is an outstanding summing up of these lessons. It deserves most careful study by every revolutionary.

The crisis capitalism has entered globally is having a deep impact on the real living conditions of billions of workers all over the world. With this comes a growing consciousness among ordinary working people and youth that something is seriously wrong with this system, that this cannot be the way human beings have to live. Workers are looking for an explanation and proposals of how to get out of this mess. We have produced a Manifesto which outlines the causes and puts forward a programme of action for the international labour movement.

This book by Alan Woods is a polemic against a well-known (in Latin American terms) intellectual Heinz Dieterich. Dieterich claims to have invented a new "Socialism of the 21st Century" and much else into the bargain. He offers a great deal of advice to those involved in the Venezuelan Revolution dressed up in all manner of revolutionary rhetoric. However, when you clear away all the verbiage that surrounds his "new" socialist philosophy, there remains nothing new at all, simply a rehash of stale petty-bourgeois ideas of the past. The author of "Reformism or Revolution" seeks to answer Dieterich's extravagant claims and in doing so defends the real ideas of Marxism on a whole host of questions and in particular the way forward for the Venezuelan and world revolution.

Wellred Publications is pleased to announce the publication of a new book on Trotsky's famous theory of the Permanent Revolution, written by John Roberts. This work critically analyses and compares Lenin and Trotsky's writings in relation to the theory of the Permanent Revolution and defends that theory against revisionist writers.

This book, by Ted Grant and with a preface by Trotsky's grandson Esteban Volkov, covers the key developments in Russia since the Revolution right up to the present day. It traces the elimination of workers' democracy, the rise of Stalinism, the advances of planned economy and the eventual collapse of the bureaucratic system under Gorbachev. Using the method of Marxism, Ted Grant uncovers the contradictory developments that have shaped the Soviet Union over the last 70 years and finally led to its downfall. He also deals in detail with the present situation in Russia under Yeltsin and assesses the possibilities for a successful restoration of capitalism. Not since the publication of Trotsky's book "The Revolution Betrayed" in 1936 has such a detailed and comprehensive Marxist study of Russia been undertaken. If you want more info about the book please mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To purchase this book, click here.

In 1918-33 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 preceeded Hitler's rise to power. Rob Sewell gives a picture of the tumultous 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 book by Ted Grant is a unique contribution to the history of British Trotskyism. It begins with the debate on Trotskyism in the British Communist Party in 1924 and ends with the break-up of the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1949 and the beginning of more than thirty years of work within the Labour Party. Ted Grant was the founder and political leader of the “Militant Tendency”, which haunted the Labour leadership, and was eventually expelled along with the Militant editorial board in 1983. A postscript by Rob Sewell, who was the national organiser for the Militant throughout the 1980s, brings this unique history up to date.

This book represents an important contribution to our understanding of the Iranian revolution. This work will be particularly useful in the West where it is universally believed that the revolution of 1979 was a movement of Islamic fundamentalists led by the Ayatollah Khomeini to push Iran back to the 6th century. This view has been assiduously spread by the Establishment which has a vested interest in discrediting the very idea of revolution in the minds of the working class of the west. It is, in fact, a vicious lie. There is a rich historical background, including much material which will be unfamiliar to western readers who are unfortunately unacquainted with the marvellous achievements of the civilisations of the east, particularly Persia which has made a tremendous contribution to human culture, art and science, in addition to its rich and inspiring revolutionary history.

This text was originally written by Alan Woods as a part of the book Reason in Revolt: Marxist Philosophy and Modern Science, but eventually the book became too long and this part had to be left out. Therefore this history of philosophy is published here for the first time. With chapters on: Do we Need Philosophy?, The First Dialecticians, Aristotle and the End of Classical Greek Philosophy, The Renaissance, Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, and Philosophy in the 20th Century.

The comrades in Pakistan were just about to publish a new book on Kashmir when the devastating earthquake hit a month ago. The comrades have been hard at work on their solidarity and relief operations. Given the current crisis in Kashmir, they have decided to go ahead with the publication of the book. Over the weeks we will publish the different chapters of the book.

There have been many books and potted histories of Russia, either written from an anti-Bolshevik perspective, or its Stalinist mirror image, which paint a false account of the rise of Bolshevism. For them, Bolshevism is either an historical "accident" or "tragedy". Or it is portrayed erroneously as the work of one great man (Lenin) who marched single-minded towards the October Revolution. Alan Woods, in rejecting these "theses", reveals the real evolution of Bolshevism as a living struggle to apply the methods of Marxism to the peculiarities of Russia. Using a wealth of primary sources, Alan Woods uncovers the fascinating growth and development of Bolshevism in pre-revolutionary Russia.

For over 60 years, Ted Grant has been the foremost figure of Trotskyism in Britain and internationally. In the post-war period, the effects of world boom, the policies of right wing Labour Party reformism and the degeneracy of Stalinism combined to make a massive onslaught against the ideas of Marxism. While Grant's contemporaries now stand on the right of the movement, in dusty academic circles or have sunk into obscurity, the articles in this collection show the clarity of Grant's understanding and his ability to deepen and expand the ideas of Leon Trotsky. No one involved in the struggle to change society and end the rule of capitalism and Stalinism can afford to be without this book. Nor can any serious student of the past 60 years, or of current affairs, afford to ignore its contents. This book, nearly out of print, is now available on-line. To purchase this book, click here.

This book, by Ted Grant and Alan Woods published in 1995 coinciding with the centenary of Engels' death, defends the validity of the philosophical writings of Marx and Engels. It does this by showing that the scientific discoveries of the twentieth century confirm the very essence of the Marxist philosophical method, dialectical materialism. With a foreword by Eric Lerner, author of The Big Bang Never Happened.The book has already been published in Spanish, Italian, Greek, Urdu, German, Turkish and Bahasa Indonesia. It is also being translated into Dutch. To purchase this book, click here.

There are many narrative histories of the struggles of British workers. However Rob Sewell’s book is different. The purpose of this history of British trade unionism is not only to recite the wrongs inflicted on working people, or simply to describe their heroic struggles. It is an attempt to draw out the lessons of the events that helped shape the Labour movement, and made it what it is. This is a book that sets out from the proposition that the interests between capital and labour are incompatible and takes sides in the war between the classes. Buy this book online.

The Irish Republican movement has been struggling for a united Ireland for decades. Today it is no nearer this objective than when it was founded. Marxists understand that a united Ireland can only be achieved on a socialist basis. So long as capitalism dominates Ireland there will be division and strife. Therefore it is time to take stock of the past of the Republican movement and to draw a balance sheet. Only by such means can we build the revolutionary movement urgently needed to prevent a further descent into sectarian chaos and achieve instead the historic task of overthrowing capitalism and constructing the 32 county Socialist Republic.