Anthology of revolutionary writing
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This is one of the only anthologies of revolutionary writings that I've discovered and its very affordably priced, it is entitled The Communist Manifesto and it does include the title tract but its got so many others too.
There are all the precursors to the communist manifesto, Rousseau, Voltaire, Paine, The American Declaration of Independence, The Third Estate in France, The National Assembly of France, there are other less well known writers Marat, Danton, Marechal, Babeuf, who are all radical anti-clerical and egalitarian agitaters who generally only qualify for footnotes elsewhere.
The "utopian" socialists Owen and Proudhon appear alongside the Communist Manifesto, afterwards the main revolutionaries since then are all included, Lassalle, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Lenin, Trotsky, Goldman, Luxemburg, Ghandi, Mao and Guevara. There's also the manifesto of Charter 77 which lead to the "velvet revolution" in Czechsolvakia.
It's very comprehensive and many of the sources provide a good point and counter point for the discerning and interested reader, for younger readers who're just interested in polemic which warms the blood like wine there's plenty of that too.
Of real interest to me was the declaration of working and exploited people by Lenin and The Provisional Government, this is an essay which Orwell said was characteristic of most socialist literature, an essay from socialists in opposition which became the greatest threat to the socialists in power, its also the essay which Simone Weil deconstructed in her brilliant Oppression and Liberty.
It details how popular sovereignty would replace parliamentary elections, secret police, capital punishment, censorship and press control by the state would be abolished and, of course, it was the opposite of what development from the day and hour of Lenin's coup deposing the Provisional Government.
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The Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings
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When I originally bought this book, it was with the specific purpose of lending it to a friend, I had lost my old one anyway, and she'd asked to borrow it. I must say, that even upon first browsing, that I had struck upon a goldmine for the price I'd paid (about £2.50). NOt only do we have the fabled communist manifesto, we also are able to view the works of Trotsky, Lenin, Engels, even Mao, Payne and the Declaration of Independence. This book is well worth the price and I encourage anyone to buy it, even if they have other versions.
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