Lenin's uniqueness and relevance as a revolutionary leader is often associated with the seizure of power in 1917. However, as Slavoj Žižek argues in this new study and compilation of Lenin's original texts, it is in his last two years of political life where the true stature of this unrepeatable politician is best appreciated. Russia had survived a foreign invasion, the embargo and a harrowing civil war, not to mention internal revolts such as that of Kronstadt in 1921; but the new state was exhausted, isolated and confused before a world revolution that seemed to fade away. We had to find new ways - starting almost from scratch - in order for the Soviet State to be able to endure, to conceive alternative directions towards the future through unexplored territories. With his usual acumen and vigor, Žižek argues that it is in this context of withdrawal that Lenin's worth as a thinker and as a politician is fully manifested.

In a world like ours, plagued by political turbulence, economic crises and geopolitical tensions, we can only repeat the sober lucidity and unwavering revolutionary determination that Lenin knew masterfully conjugate.