In this article, first published in 2004, Rob Sewell deals with the important contribution Lenin made on the national question and how such a correct stand on this issue guaranteed the success of the Bolshevik Party in October 1917. The national question remains a key issue for Marxists in the current epoch of capitalist crisis.

The past two decades have witnessed a barrage of propaganda against Marxism and its revolutionary heritage. The mainstream media, universities, professors and historians: all have gone on the offensive to discredit Marxism. In this article, originally published in the Marxist Student magazine, we examine the most common myths about Marxism and socialism.

Ninety years ago, on 21st January 1924, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution, died from complications arising from an earlier assassin’s bullet. Rob Sewell looks back at the life and ideas of Lenin, the great Marxist and revolutionary leader.