
Lenin`s originality & importance as a revolutionary leader is most often associated with the seizure of power in 1917. But, Zizek argues in his new study & collection of original texts, Lenin`s true greatness can be better grasped in the very last couple of years of his political life. Russia had survived foreign invasion, embargo & a terrifying civil war, as well as internal revolts such as at Kronstadt in 1921. But the new state was exhausted, isolated & disorientated in the face of the world revolution that seemed to be receding. New paths had to be sought, almost from scratch, for the Soviet state to survive & imagine some alternative route to the future. With his characteristic brio & provocative insight, Zizek suggests that Lenin`s courage as a thinker can be found in his willingness to face this reality of retreat lucidly & frontally.