How did the October Revolution succeed? And why did the October project fail? Was there something inherently wrong or authoritarian in Marxism, Bolshevism, and Lenin's theoretical tradition? Was Stalinist barbarism the inevitable result of them?

These questions are addressed in the essays of this study. Utilizing testimonies about October, as well as contemporary historical philology, Christos Kefalis challenges these dominant views. He argues that Stalin promoted a process of bureaucratic degeneration that reversed and denied the ideas and fruits of the revolution in all areas, from Marxist theory and the sciences to culture and national relations.

The book presents the experiences of the revolution and the civil war, and the developments in the USSR in various fields, from the 1920s to Stalin's death, including rich and rare photographic material.