The legacy of Rosa Luxemburg - Norman Geras

During the first decades of the twentieth century, Rosa Luxemburg was
the leader of the workers' movement in Poland and Germany. She made a
remarkable contribution to socialist theory and practice, yet her legacy
remains in dispute. In this book Norman Geras interrogates and refutes
the myths that have developed around her work. She was an opponent of
socialist participation in the First World War and, as Geras shows, her
views on socialist strategy in Russia were closer to Lenin's than any
other leader's. Geras explores the development of Luxemburg's critique
in the period following the war and demonstrates how her thought is
distinct from the social democratic or anarchist theories into which it
is often subsumed. Geras brings new light to bear on one of the most
misrepresented figures in radical history, illustrating her inspiring
lack of complacency and her commitment to questioning those in authority
on both the Right and the Left.