Much has been written about the activity of Lenin and his colleagues on the editorial board of the Iskra newspaper, whereas little ink has been spilled about his political interlocutors who unsuccessfully fought for control of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party during the Iskra period. To redress the balance, Richard Mullin has translated 25 documents from this period, most of which express a polemical attitude toward Lenin’s views. They include articles from Rabochee Delo, the Jewish Bund's Poslednie Izvestiia the post-Lenin Iskra, pamphlets by Plekhanov and Martov, the resolutions of Party meetings, as well as some very revealing private correspondence.

Through the examination of these documents a clearer, more grounded, and better-rounded picture of the early Russian Social Democratic Labor Party can be obtained.

Part of the Historical Materialism (HM) Book Series.