Before Stalin. Before the Iron Curtain. Before nuclear standoffs and satellite states. There was Vladimir Lenin, the man who lit the match of the Russian Revolution and rewrote global politics in blood and ideology.
The Life and Death of Lenin by Robert Payne is one of the most complete, literary, and psychologically probing biographies of the revolutionary icon. First published in 1964, at the height of Cold War tension, this work attempts to pull back the veil on a man often reduced to symbol — exploring his childhood, his radical awakening, his years in exile, and the chilling grip of power he would ultimately wield.
📖 Title: The Life and Death of Lenin
✍️ Author: Robert Payne
🏢 Publisher: Simon & Schuster
📆 Printing: Second Printing, 1964
📘 Format: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
🧠 Topics:
Russian Revolution
Bolshevism & Marxist theory
Personal and political biography
Early Soviet leadership
Dust jacket shows moderate to heavy wear, tears, and scuffs
Name lightly written on cover
Inside: pages clean and unmarked, strong binding
Great reader’s copy or study copy for history students or Cold War collectors
This book hits a sweet spot between academic rigor and engaging narrative, offering a window into:
Soviet political theory’s human origin
The psychological tension behind revolutionary ideology
The man who set the 20th century on fire — and died under Stalin’s suspicious shadow
Perfect for:
Political biography collections
Cold War history buffs
Communist/Socialist studies libraries
Anyone who collects first- and early-printing biographies of major world leade