The idea of a Lenin renaissance might well provoke an outburst of sarcastic laughter. Marx is ok, but Lenin? Doesn't he stand for a monumental catastrophe that left an indelible mark on all of subsequent history and political thinking? Lenin, however, deserves wider consideration than this, and his writings of 1917 are testament to a formidable political figure. Zizek puts the 1917 writings in their historical context, while his extensive Afterword tackles the key question of whether this man can be reinvented in our era of cultural capitalism.