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Lenin at Leisure

By: Owen Hatherley

A vivid, rediscovered anthology — compiled and introduced by Tamara Deutscher — assembles a surprising portrait of the Soviet revolutionary built from letters, memoirs, and fragments.

(Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

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‘We have not only cut off heads, as the Mensheviks and the Kautskys in all countries accuse us of doing; we have also enlightened heads. Many heads.’ This is Lenin, in the early 1920s, talking about the importance of ‘culture’ and education in the creation of a socialist society. It’s an example of Lenin’s brusque […]

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‘We have not only cut off heads, as the Mensheviks and the Kautskys in all countries accuse us of doing; we have also enlightened heads. Many heads.’ This is Lenin, in the early 1920s, talking about the importance of ‘culture’ and education in the creation of a socialist society. It’s an example of Lenin’s brusque […]

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‘We have not only cut off heads, as the Mensheviks and the Kautskys in all countries accuse us of doing; we have also enlightened heads. Many heads.’ This is Lenin, in the early 1920s, talking about the importance of ‘culture’ and education in the creation of a socialist society. It’s an example of Lenin’s brusque […]

‘We have not only cut off heads, as the Mensheviks and the Kautskys in all countries accuse us of doing; we have also enlightened heads. Many heads.’ This is Lenin, in the early 1920s, talking about the importance of ‘culture’ and education in the creation of a socialist society. It’s an example of Lenin’s brusque […]

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