The publisher Arbeiterspresse (workers’ press), which since 1978 has published many brochures and books dealing with current political topics and the history of the workers’ movement, has recently changed its name to Mehring Verlag.
At the heart of Mehring’s activity is its Leon Trotsky library, which contains his most important writings, including a number of first editions in the German language such as The Balkan Wars 1912-13 and Europe at War. The publishing house has also premiered in German the writings of the Russian sociologist and historian Vadim S. Rogovin, who produced a new history of the Left Opposition against Stalinism between 1923 and 1940 in seven volumes under the title Was There an Alternative?
In 2003, Mehring broke new ground with the publication of essays by the Russian Marxist literary critic and member of the Left Opposition, Alexander K. Voronsky, Art as the Cognition of Life. The book’s publication arose from the conviction that artistic and cultural issues play an indispensible role in elevating and sharpening workers’ consciousness.
The publishing house will soon expand its work in the fields of art and culture. In this respect its renaming is entirely appropriate. The important Marxist leader Franz Mehring (1846-1919) dedicated himself to the topics of literature and art, alongside his work on politics and history.
Mehring’s redesigned website is now on-line at www.mehring-verlag.de. Titles can be purchased immediately, guaranteeing rapid delivery. In the coming months, the website will be further extended to include book reviews and more information about authors and featured works.
Over the next year, Merhing will considerably expand its Trotsky library.
In the coming days, it will publish a third edition of Trotsky’s Revolution Betrayed, the classic and unsurpassed treatment of the emergence of Stalinism. First published in 1936, this masterpiece has lost none of its relevance.
In December, more books authored by Trotsky will be published. After many years of its being out of print, Mehring will bring Trotsky’s brilliant History of the Russian Revolution to a new generation of readers. Mehring has produced the work in hard cover and in two volumes, the “February Revolution” and the “October Revolution.” Mehring will also bring back Whither France?, Trotsky’s criticism of Stalinist Popular Front politics in France in the 1930s.
These books can already be ordered in advance on the new website. www.mehring-verlag.de
In the spring of 2010, Mehring will publish The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Bolshevik Rule in Petrograd, the latest book by the eminent historian of the Soviet Union, Alexander Rabinovich. The book is the product of 20 years of work, including extensive research in Soviet archives that had been sealed for decades. Drawing from a vast amount of material, Rabinovich provides a close analysis of the internal conflicts and debates inside the Bolshevik Party in the first year after the October revolution. Further information on this book will shortly be available on the website www.sowjetmacht.de.
The October Revolution, the history of the Soviet Union, and its degeneration under Stalin are given breathtaking visual expression in Red Star over Russia, a volume of photos and illustrations edited by the former director of the art department of Britain’s Sunday Times, David King. Mehring will publish this opulent volume with more than 550 colour and black-and-white illustrations in mid-April 2010.
In autumn 2010, Mehring will publish the first volume of the seven-volume work Was There an Alternative? by Vadim S. Rogovin. This volume deals with the period from 1923 to 1928, in which the opposition led by Trotsky against the developing bureaucracy in the Soviet Union emerged.
More information on all Mehring titles is available at the website www.mehring-verlag.de. In addition, a blog will be available starting in December, with further reports on work in progress.
All of the above titles can now be ordered in advance.