Book Details

The present selection has been compiled by Bruce Franklin and is essential to understand the theoretical and political contributions of Stalin. Franklin himself was an anti-Stalin who later, especially in the light of the writings of Mao and contributions of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China and also as a result of his own research, came to believe that Stalin was one of the greatest leaders of proletariat, a great Marxist theoretician and a key figure of the 20th century. After beginning his professional career as a navigator and intelligence officer in the Strategic Air Command, Franklin got his doctorate at Stanford University. Consequently, he began to teach English there. He was a prominent anti-War activist in the 1960s. He was one of the founders of the Revolutionary Union. Revolutionary Union played a central role in the formation of the RCP, USA. However, Franklin split from the  Revolutionary Union on the issues of race and joined the Venceremos Organization which was against racial separation of revolutionary organizations. Franklin and the Venceremos Organization have been charged of anarchist and voluntarist deviation by some. However, this much is certain that Franklin remains a radical left intellectual. Venceremos disintegrated in 1973 due to subversive activities by the FBI. The American state constantly targeted and persecuted Franklin and used every means to inflict mental and psychological torture on him. Franklin was blacklisted and was without regular employment for three years. In 1975 he was hired as a professor at Rutgers University, where he has since been named the John Cotton Dana Professor of English and  American Studies. Franklin has written on a variety of subjects including the Vietnam War, American military strategy, prison literature in America, science fiction in America, and works of Herman Melville. ‘Essential Stalin’ is one of the best selections from the writings of Stalin and includes many rare writings of Stalin. Franklin’s introduction of this selection brilliantly places Stalin and his writings in perspective and is an independent work.