Literature

Tsar to Lenin, 1917 Centenary Edition (DVD with subtitles)

Tsar to Lenin, first released in 1937, ranks among the twentieth century’s greatest film documentaries. It presents an extraordinary cinematic account of the Russian Revolution—from the mass uprising which overthrew the centuries-old Tsarist regime in February 1917, to the Bolshevik-led insurrection eight months later that established the first socialist workers’ state, and the final victory in 1921 of the new Soviet regime over counter-revolutionary forces after a three-year-long civil war. (NTSC format)

This 1917 Centenary Edition contains subtitles in: Afrikaans, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish.

Buy for $19.95, plus $6.50 postage

Documents of the SEP Founding Congress

Adopted in January by the founding congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) reviews and examines essential historical events and political experiences of the Australian working class throughout the twentieth century, within the context of global economic, political and social processes. The congress resolution delineates the struggle for Marxism from all varieties of national opportunism, in particular the nationalist doctrines of Australian exceptionalism that have been promoted by the Australian Labor Party and the trade unions for more than a century. In doing so, it establishes the theoretical and political basis of the struggle for socialist internationalism.

Both The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) Statement of Principles are available from Mehring Books.

Buy both together for $17, plus $8 postage

Buy The Historical and International Foundations for $12, plus $7 postage

Buy The Statement of Principles for $5, plus $3 postage

The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party

This document was adopted at the founding congress of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 3-9, 2008. Tracing essential historical events and political experiences spanning more than a century, the work establishes the theoretical and political basis of the struggle for socialism.

$12.95 plus $7 postage within Australia

The Historical and International Foundations of the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit

The Partei für Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality Party), the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, adopted this document unanimously at its Founding Congress held on May 23, 2010 in Berlin.

The document traces the historical experiences of the workers’ movement over the past 140 years. The Congress resolution examines the origins of the German SPD (Social Democratic Party) and the reasons behind its capitulation to German militarism in WWI; the rise of the German Communist Party and its subsequent Stalinist degeneration; the postwar division of Germany; the significance of the collapse of the Stalinist German Democratic Republic; and many other historical experiences that led to the founding of the Socialist Equality Party in Germany.

This document acquaints a new generation of workers and young people with the historical experiences of the workers’ movement in Germany, where the working class achieved triumphant successes and suffered world historic defeats that shaped the character of the 20th century. It is an essential read for all students of Marxism.

$12 plus $7 postage within Australia

The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Britain)

The document was adopted unanimously at the founding congress of the Socialist Equality Party (Britain), held October 22-25, 2010 in Manchester. It reviews and examines the most critical political experiences of the British working class, centring in particular on the post-war history of the Trotskyist movement.

$12 plus $7 postage within Australia

The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)

This document was adopted unanimously by the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) at its founding congress held in Colombo, 27–29 May, 2011.

This document is vital reading for all those wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the problems of the development of the revolutionary movement on the Indian subcontinent.It draws the critical lessons of the struggles waged by the Fourth International for Trotsky’s theory of Permanent Revolution in South Asia over the past 75 years.

$12 plus $7 postage within Australia

Documents of the 1985-86 Split with the Workers Revolutionary Party

How the WRP Betrayed Trotskyism

This volume contains the comprehensive statement published by the ICFI in the wake of the 1985-86 split with the British Workers Revolutionary Party.

The ICFI Defends Trotskyism 1982 -1986

This volume contains a collection of documents from the period leading up to the 1985-86 split by the British Workers Revolutionary Party from the International Committee of the Fourth International.

Buy both together for $20 plus $7.50 postage within Australia

The June 2010 Political Coup: A warning to the working class

This pamphlet is a powerful collection of articles, comments and political statements originally posted on the World Socialist Web Site that analyse the extraordinary coup that removed Kevin Rudd as Australian prime minister. The material constitutes the only Marxist analysis of this major attack on democratic rights.

$5 plus $2.80 postage within Australia

The Sky Between the Leaves

Mehring Books is excited to announce the release in Australia of The Sky Between the Leaves by World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) arts editor David Walsh, which contains a collection of film reviews, essays on film and interviews with directors and film critics spanning the 20 years from 1992 to 2012.

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This volume contains articles from the World Socialist Web Site, as well as from the Bulletin and International Workers Bulletin newspapers, the forerunners in the US of the WSWS, which was launched in February 1998 by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

Walsh began to write about art and culture for the Bulletin in September 1991 and was instrumental in the expansion of coverage of artistic and cultural developments with the launch of the World Socialist Web Site seven years later.

The film reviews contained in this volume cover a wide spectrum—from James Cameron’s Titanic and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ to the award-winning A Separation by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and films of Chinese and Taiwanese directors. There are also interviews with Abbas Kiarostami, Mike Leigh, Jia Zhangke and other filmmakers, as well as with critics Andrew Sarris and Robin Wood.

Several essays discuss the work of talented and principled artists of the 1930s and 1940s who sought to bring humanity to their work. Walsh details the fate of many who fell victim to the anti-communist McCarthyite witch-hunts of the 1950s. A recurring theme in these writings is the profound impact this historical period has had on Hollywood in the ensuing years. Walsh consistently returns to the crisis of contemporary filmmaking and the inability, or unwillingness, of so many of today’s writers and directors to see the world as it is and grapple with social reality as millions experience it.

The critique provided by David Walsh is absolutely unique in the field of contemporary film criticism. No other source provides the Marxist analysis of culture contained in the WSWS. Walsh’s writing is widely respected for its unrelenting hostility both to the pervasive academic fog of postmodernism in the arts, as well as the pseudo-left glorification of identity politics in contemporary film. Walsh’s writings are essential for the development of a conscious, revolutionary critical attitude toward capitalist society.

Author: David Walsh, 366 pages
ISBN: 978-1-893638-27-3

Price: $24.95 plus $11 postage and handling