• Makan@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    7·
    5 days ago

    Yeah, it’s by China Mieville, a British Trotskyist and esteemed writer.

    This book in particular is very… biased, from what I have heard.

    Lots of focus on what Trotsky did and achieved. Other characters (not just Stalin but others that survived past the 1920s or past the 1930s) seem predictably sidelined or even castigated or belittled by the narrative.

    It’s basically “narrative history” (by a speculative fiction author).

    But I feel that it’s not the best book on the October revolution out there, from what others have told me.

    However, as I have said, I have not read it and, of course, many of my friends who said this are now MLs.

    So idk, I guess the bias goes both ways (yeah, yeah, I know, there’s no such thing as “unbiased,” I’m just explaining myself).

      • Makan@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        There are a few that are older.

        I suppose the most famous one in English would be:

        Ten Days That Shook The World by John Reed (himself a communist and considered an early founder of the CPUSA when it was just forming)

        Oh, and you can throw in History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)

        Off the top of my head, tbh; there are more, including memoirs from that time.

        • Darkerseid@lemmygrad.ml
          4·
          4 days ago

          Too bad! I actually love China Mievelle’s writing a lot. Will still read that book and also check the recs you mentioned

          • Makan@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
            3·
            4 days ago

            He’s a great author!

            One of my friends in High School really loved him.

            He wanted to read The Culture series since it is also written by a Trotskyist, I think.

            • Darkerseid@lemmygrad.ml
              4·
              4 days ago

              I am also a big fan of Culture series. Iain M Banks is goated. In fact, I am currently reading Use of weapons (which is my second culture book)

              Have no idea both these authors are trots though. Is that public knowledge though? I havent been able to find those associations

              In late 2004, Banks joined a group of UK politicians and media figures campaigning to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In protest, he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street.

              In 2010, Banks called for a cultural and educational boycott of Israel after the Gaza flotilla raid incident. In a letter to The Guardian newspaper, Banks said he had instructed his agent to turn down any further book translation deals with Israeli publishers: