"Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder

"Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder is a political book by Vladimir Lenin, first published in 1920. Written in Russian, it addresses critics of the Bolsheviks who placed themselves further to the left, and it examines the disputes and tactical arguments surrounding early communist politics. Later in the same year it also appeared in German, English, and French.

This book is a good fit for readers interested in the history of communism, internal left-wing debates, and Lenin’s political writing. Its structure is fairly direct, with ten chapters and an appendix, so it is easy to approach as a focused political text rather than a sprawling study. If you want a book that deals with ideological disagreement inside a revolutionary movement and you do not mind a sharp, argumentative tone, this is likely to suit you. It connects naturally to other works of political criticism and early 20th-century communist thought.