This book is the result of years of research and redrafting based on materials in the libraries of the Hoover Institution (Stanford), the British Museum and in particular the Bibliothèque de Documentation et Information Contemporaine (BDIC, Paris Nanterre).

During the initial research I was fortunate to have received comments on my drafts from Professors B. Ward, G. Grossman and M. Lewin. In the final stages, the stimulating remarks of Professors R.W. Davies, O. Crisp, L. Szamuely and L. Sire were of considerable help. The initial English editing was undertaken with much sensitivity and respect for the content by Mr Jacob Miller, without whose aid and enthusiasm the script would never have been ready for printing.

My gratitude goes also to Dr J.M. Cooper and Mrs Bo Richter, who have in different degrees but with the same spirit of friendship helped me in the editing of the final version. In this they displayed much patience and a cheerful disregard for my intermittent objections to their justified corrections. I am also indebted to Dr Cooper for bringing my attention to additional sources and information contained in his remarkable collection of early Soviet literature.

I wish to express my thanks to all these scholars and at the same time to apologize for any weaknesses which may remain; I assume full responsibility for them.

Miss Jean Fyfe performed the valuable task of decoding my illegible handwriting and translating it into a neatly typed text.