Angels and Demons: A Radical Anthology of Political Lives : A Marxist Analysis of Key Political and Historical Figures

It is a commonplace wisdom that from the authoritarian roots of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 grew the gulags and the police state of the Stalinist epoch. The Dictator, the Revolution, The Machine overturns that perspective once and for all by showing how October was inspired by a profound mass movement comprised of urban workers and rural poor -- a movement that went on to forge a state capable of channelling its political will in and through the most overwhelming form of grass-roots democracy history has ever known. It was a single, precarious experiment whose life was tragically brief. In a context of civil war and foreign invasion the fledgling democracy was eradicated and the Bolshevik party was denuded of its social basis -- the working classes. While the party survived, its centrist elements came to the fore as the power of the bureaucracy asserted itself. From the ashes of human freedom there arose a zombified, sclerotic administration in which state functionaries took precedence over elected representatives. One man came to embody the inverted logic of this bureaucratic machine, its remorseless brutality and its parasitic drive for power. Joseph Stalin was its highest expression, accruing to himself state powers as he made his murderous, heady rise to dictator. This book examines his historical profile, its roots in Georgian medievalism, and shows why Stalin was destined to play the role he did. In broader strokes Tony McKenna raises the conflict between the revolutionary movement and the bureaucracy to the level of a literary tragedy played out on the stage of world history, showing how Stalinism's victory would pave the way for the Midnight of the Century. Art, Literature And Culture From A Marxist Perspective Provides A Historical And Dialectical Journey Through Some Of The Most Salient And Abiding Works Of Art, Literature, Tv Series And Film, Including The Analysis Of More Classical Forms Such As The Paintings Of Van Gogh Or Work By Balzac And Bronte, Alongside Modern Elements Which Are On The Cutting Edge Of Contemporary Culture - Like Hbo's Breaking Bad And Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead, True Detective, The Life And Music Of Tupac Shakur, The Comedy Of Ricky Gervais And More. The Author Demonstrates, With A Lucid And Literary Style, How These Works And Artists Are Important More Broadly; How They Manage To Weave Into A Fantasy Fabric The Fundamental Forms Of The Historical Realities In Which We Are Enmeshed; How Each Is Stamped With That Historical Necessity. -- Machine Generated Contents Note: -- Introduction1. Breaking Bad: Capital As Cancer 2. In Time: The First Hollywood Movie Of The Occupy Wall Street Era 3. The Walking Dead: The Archetype Of The Zombie In The Modern Epoch 4. Let Me In: The Figure Of The Vampire As Kantian Noumenal 5. True Detective And Capitalist Development In Its Twilight Phase 6. Tupac Shakur: History's Poet 7. Vincent Van Gogh 8. The Song Of Achilles: How The Future Transforms The Past 9. Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna And The Nature Of The Historical Novel 10. Balzac's Women And The Impossibility Of Redemption In Cousin Bette 11. The Wife -- A Study In Patriarchy And Veiled Oppression 12. The Vigilante In Film: The Movement From Death-wish, To Batman, To Taxi-driver 13. A Mirror Into Our World: The Radical Politics Of Game Of Thrones 14. Harry Potter And The Modern Age 15. The Hunger Games Trilogy -- Art For The Occupy Era 16. The Politics Of Deduction: Why Has Sherlock Holmes Proven So Durable? 17. Literary Love As Transcendental Sublime: Wuthering Heights And The Sea, The Sea 18. Brief Loves That Live Forever: The Historical Melancholy Of Andrei; Makine 19. John William's Novel Stoner And The Dialectic Of The Infinite And Finite 20. From Tragedy To Farce: The Comedy Of Ricky Gervais As Capitalist Critique. Tony Mckenna. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. London 1940. A city of darkness, a city of blackout, where every night bombs fall from the sky. Amid the devastation of the war-torn capital, some children have fallen through the gaps. Homeless, lost - they take refuge below ground, in the tube network; they survive by coming together in an abandoned station, forging out a life, in a world beneath the world. Eleven-year-old Daniel discovers this magical, subterranean city of children; he shares in its wonders and dreams, making both friends and enemies along the way. But the existence of the children is both precarious and fragile. Some of them begin to disappear. Others are found dead - laid out on the tracks. The children whisper stories about a supernatural being haunting the tunnels. The question Are they alone or is there something down in the darkness with them? A Marxist analysis of key political and historical figures including Hugo Chavez and Jeremy Corbyn, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Angels and Demons offers a series of profiles of historical figures both old and new. Using a Marxist analysis, the author adduces the particularities of each individual personality from the crest of living history which brings it to the fore, showing with each of the figures examined how the art, politics and creativity of their lives is infused by the rhythm and contradictions of the broader historical backdrop. The angels in the collection are Hugo Chavez, Andrea Dworkin, Rembrandt, Victor Hugo, Jeremy Corbyn and William Blake. The demons are Donald Trump, Christopher Hitchens, Arthur Schopenhauer and Hillary Clinton. Provides a historical and dialectical journey through some of the most salient and abiding works of art, literature, TV series and film, including the analysis of more classical forms such as the paintings of Van Gogh or work by Balzac and Brontë, alongside modern elements which are on the cutting edge of contemporary culture - like HBO's Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead, True Detective, the life and music of Tupac Shakur, the comedy of Ricky Gervais and more This title offers a Marxist take on a selection of artistic and cultural achievements from the rap music of Tupac Shakur to the painting of Van Gogh, from HBO's Breaking Bad to Balzac's Cousin Bette , from the magical realm of Harry Potter to the apocalyptic landscape of The Walking Dead , from The Hunger Games to Game of Thrones . Amid The Devastation Of The War-torn London, Some Children Take Refuge Below Ground In The Tube Network, Forging Out A Life, In A World Beneath The World.. The Children Whisper Stories About A Supernatural Being Haunting The Tunnels. The Question Abides: Are They Alone Or Is There Something Down In The Darkness With Them? London 1940. A city of darkness, a city of blackout, where every night bombs fall from the sky. Homeless, abandoned, lost some children take refuge below ground, in the tube network; are they alone or is there something down in the darkness with them? Machine Generated Contents Note: Dictator, The Revolution, The Machine -- Political Account Of Joseph Stalin. Tony Mckenna. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.