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“There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a
chance of gaining its luminous summits.” (Marx, Capital, Vol.I, Preface to the French Edition, 1872)
Marxism-Leninism is the science of revolution, encompassing developments in philosophy, political economy, and
scientific socialism. It is the theory and tactics of the proletarian revolution in general, the theory and tactics of the
dictatorship of the proletariat in particular. As Stalin has said, Marxism-Leninism is not a dogma but a guide to
action. What this means is basically that Marxism-Leninism is the synthesis and summation of the historic
experiences of the revolutionary struggles of working and oppressed people against capitalism and imperialism for
more than 160 years, and it is first and foremost a weapon to be used by working and oppressed people in their
struggles for emancipation, liberation, and the building of a new world.
I’m putting this list of readings together as sort of a study guide for people in the United States who are intersted in
learning about Marxism-Leninism and socialism. The primary theoreticians of Marxism-Leninism are Marx,
Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. While I have focused on their texts I have included the writings of many other
Marxist-Leninists and some videos as well. I also draw extensively from Stalin’s History of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) – Short Course which Mao Zedong highlighted as an essential textbook for study. I
have chosen the texts that I have mainly in the interest of finding texts can be grasped quickly and in a practical
way. I have attempted to divide the readings into distinct topics, with the idea that this study guide will mostly be
used by individuals for study on their own in tackling particular, concrete problems, as well as to aid in learning
Marxism through criticism and self-criticism. For broader historical study on the Soviet Revolution, I suggest
reading the above mentioned History of the CPSU(B) Short Course, The Collapse of the Soviet Union: Causes and
Lessons by the International Communist Seminar, and Ludo Martens’ Another View of Stalin. On the Chinese
revolution I suggest Han Suyin’s books The Morning Deluge: Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution 1893-1954
and Wind in the Tower: Mao Tsetung and the Chinese Revolution 1949 to 1975. Taken together they are the best
study of the Chinese Revolution in English that I am aware of, and the closest thing there is to something lik a
Chinese equivalent to the History of the CPSU(B) Short Course, apart from A History of the Modern Chinese
Revolution (Peking: FLP 1959) which is very difficult to find. Unfortunately Han Suyin’s books are not available
online.
I also suggest the Glossary of Revolutionary Marxism. For the absolute essentials, I would suggest going to my
“Ten Essential Classics of Marxism-Leninism” page.
From www.marxistleninist.wordpress.com
Imperialist Globalization and the United States by Steff Yorek and Mick Kelly for the
National Executive Committee of FRSO
Capitalism in Crisis: 160 years after the Communist Manifesto by FRSO
On the Capitalist Crisis videos of a talk by Harpal Brar
From www.marxistleninist.wordpress.com
Continue the Revolution Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to the End by Hua
Guofeng
Frederick Engels and scientific socialism in contemporary China by Peter Franssen
Reasons to Support China videos of a program by the CPGB-ML
On Khrushchov’s Phoney Communism and Its Historical Lessons for the World by
Mao Zedong
Reject the Revisionist Theses of the XX Congress of the CPSU by Enver Hoxha
Eurocommunism is Anti-Communism by Enver Hoxha
On Trotskyism: Problems of Theory and History by Kostas Mavrakis
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as Guide to the Philippine Revolution by Armando
Liwanag
Stand for Socialism Against Modern Revisionism by Armando Liwanag
On Certain Aspects of the Struggle Against Revisionism by Ludo Martens
The Struggle for Chicano Liberation by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L)
Nationalism, Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution by Amiri Baraka
Introduction to Afro-American Studies a People’s College primer (especially Chapter 16,
Marxism and Black Liberation)
Malcolm X Study Guide by Abdul Alkalimat
The Third International and the Struggle for a Correct Line on the African American
National Question by FRSO
From www.marxistleninist.wordpress.com
Fred Hampton – A Fighter for Black Liberation, Revolution and Socialism by FRSO
The Immigrant Rights Movement and the Struggle for Full Equality by FRSO
Build a Fighting Workers Movement by the Labor Commission of the Freedom Road
Socialist Organization (review)
From www.marxistleninist.wordpress.com
Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State by Frederick Engels
Woman and Socialism by August Bebel
Soviet Power and the Status of Women by V.I. Lenin
Letter to Inessa Armand (January 17, 1915) by V.I. Lenin
Letter to Inessa Armand (January 24, 1915) by V.I. Lenin
Interview with Mariela Castro on the Future of Sex and Socialism in Cuba