The State and Revolution

What it is

Written by Vladimir Lenin largely in hiding during the summer of 1917 and published in 1918, this book sets out his theory of the state and revolution. The cover shown is from the 1918 Petrograd edition, published under the name V. Il'in (N. Lenin).

Why it matters

Lenin argued that the state is fundamentally an instrument of class violence, and that after a proletarian revolution a "dictatorship of the proletariat" would be needed before the state could eventually "wither away". He drew heavily on Marx and Engels, and the book developed from his earlier disagreements with fellow Bolshevik Bukharin about whether the state would wither away quickly or needed to be actively used. It remains one of Lenin's most important works of political theory, shaping how later communist governments understood their own power.

Look closer

• What does Lenin mean when he calls the state "an organisation of violence"?
• Why might this book's ideas be used very differently once the Bolsheviks actually held power?
• What does the plain, inexpensive printing of the cover suggest about who was meant to read this book?