I’m looking for:

Communist history (particularly in the United States, Turkey, and Africa)

Labor history (again, particularly in the United States, Turkey, and Africa)

Books on China (especially theoretical books by intellectuals, workmen, officials, etc. such as Deng Xiaoping or Liu Shaoqi)

Old books (not from 2020; from famous figures or obscure figures or ones who died recently, etc.)

Obscure books (books that aren’t that well-known and deserve more attention)

Decolonial/national liberation (stuff like Franz Fanon or Walter Rodney)

Now, I’m going to take a break from reading theory and finish up Paul Cockshott’s recent book and the book by DuBois that I’m reading right now (also, almost done with Roadside Picnic).

I currently have works by Gerald Horne, J. Sakai, Deng Xiaoping, Franz Fanon, Herbert Aptheker, and some books from Monthly Review Press on my list, but what other works should I read? What am I missing? I feel like I’m just reading the books that everyone else has already read, you know what I mean? Am I missing any details or obscure books that are important? Maybe underrated or “hidden gems” that I don’t know about?

Thanks in advance, comrades!

  • Raton_en_Criss
    3•4 years ago

    I really suggest Elementary principle of philosophy by George Politzer , this book is sooo good to understand marterialism better, even if you already know it, the book is still an excelent read

  • Muad'DibberMA
    3•4 years ago

    Decolonial/national liberation

    • Fanon - Wretched of the earth is an absolute must, but its less about history, and more about psychology.
    • I haven’t read Rodney - How the west underdeveloped africa, but I hear its pretty good. I think @staliesin@lemmygrad.ml has an audiobook of that one.
    • The two books on China that are on my list, are Fanshen, and mobo Gai - The battle for China’s past.

    Definitely read:

    Obscure books

    Check out midnight rising, about john brown, its pretty good, audiobook also on torrents.

    I’m currently deep into labor aristocracy / late stage imperialism theory right now with divided world divided class, and imperialism in the 21st century. Both can be dry at times, but if most marxist works are 101 classes, these are graduate level courses.

    • Makan ☭ CPUSAOP
      2•4 years ago

      Mobo Gai is supposed to be Maoist, right? I’m trying to get to Maoism later and, quite frankly, I’ve heard lots of bad things said about China that, at this point, I want to read what the people in China think and what the intellectuals and political statesmen think. Know what I’m saying? It’s why I plan to actually read Xi Jinping’s trilogy of books, though I haven’t gotten to Deng or Xi.

      Fanon is definitely a must. So is Rodney, from what I’ve heard. I’ve also heard of Fanshen. I’ll probably read Midnight Rising, but I’ve already read two books about John Brown in the last month so I’ll probably give that a break for now. And yes, Fidel Castro’s biography is probably going to hold a lot of practical lessons so that will definitely come in handy.

      Overall: thanks! Some of the stuff you mentioned are stuff that I might leave for later (or have already read, in the case of “Left-Wing” Communism) but overall thanks for this post! I think I’ll definitely refer to this later on.