Rosa Luxemburg
by Verso
A classic book on the legacy of Rosa Luxemburg’s work with essays of political analysis by leading scholars
he inspirational power of Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) remains as important today as it was in her lifetime. An uncompromising, original thinker and revolutionary activist, Luxemburg’s efforts to develop an emancipatory version of Marxism through her involvement with Polish, Russian and German Social Democratic parties and then the Spartacist League ensured her position as an influential force, yet resulted in her brutal murder during the January 1919 uprising in Berlin.
J. P. Nettl’s biography was first published half a century ago and remains the most detailed and comprehensive study of Rosa Luxemburg to date. His extensive knowledge of the social and political context of the European socialist movements in which she was active, and his engagement with her voluminous writings in German, Polish, and Russian (many of which are only now being translated into English), brings to light the multidimensional nature of her life and work. This new edition will enable a new generation to explore Luxemburg’s political and activist work, as well as grasp the unique personality of this remarkable woman, theoretician and revolutionary.“The definitive biography … the first plausible portrait of this extraordinary woman, drawn con amore, with tact and great delicacy. A splendid work.”
—Hannah Arendt, New York Review of Books
“A remarkable woman about whom J. P. Nettl has written a remarkable book.”
—Eric Hobsbawm, Economic History Quarterly
“In this time of crisis, it is urgent and a pleasure to study Rosa Luxemburg’s life and work. She was a rigorous and creative Marxist theoretician, a strategist and leader, and a revolutionary so passionate about human freedom that she fairly marches off the page. We are lucky to have John P. Nettl's essential biography newly available.”
—Sarah Leonard, journalist and author of The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century
“Rosa Luxemburg’s life and work, brought fully to life in J.P. Nettl’s biography, reminds us that political acumen, human desire, revolution, and vividness of feeling are all related. Rosa looked upon radical politics as a means of living life fully. She wanted everything: marriage and children, books and music, walks on a summer evening and the revolution, personal happiness and social justice, sex and art, democracy and working-class politics. She is an example for our time: a revolutionary socialist, Jewish, immigrant woman, who reminds us most fully what human beings need to feel human.”
—Vivian Gornick, author of Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life
“Excellent.”
—Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
he inspirational power of Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) remains as important today as it was in her lifetime. An uncompromising, original thinker and revolutionary activist, Luxemburg’s efforts to develop an emancipatory version of Marxism through her involvement with Polish, Russian and German Social Democratic parties and then the Spartacist League ensured her position as an influential force, yet resulted in her brutal murder during the January 1919 uprising in Berlin.
J. P. Nettl’s biography was first published half a century ago and remains the most detailed and comprehensive study of Rosa Luxemburg to date. His extensive knowledge of the social and political context of the European socialist movements in which she was active, and his engagement with her voluminous writings in German, Polish, and Russian (many of which are only now being translated into English), brings to light the multidimensional nature of her life and work. This new edition will enable a new generation to explore Luxemburg’s political and activist work, as well as grasp the unique personality of this remarkable woman, theoretician and revolutionary.“The definitive biography … the first plausible portrait of this extraordinary woman, drawn con amore, with tact and great delicacy. A splendid work.”
—Hannah Arendt, New York Review of Books
“A remarkable woman about whom J. P. Nettl has written a remarkable book.”
—Eric Hobsbawm, Economic History Quarterly
“In this time of crisis, it is urgent and a pleasure to study Rosa Luxemburg’s life and work. She was a rigorous and creative Marxist theoretician, a strategist and leader, and a revolutionary so passionate about human freedom that she fairly marches off the page. We are lucky to have John P. Nettl's essential biography newly available.”
—Sarah Leonard, journalist and author of The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century
“Rosa Luxemburg’s life and work, brought fully to life in J.P. Nettl’s biography, reminds us that political acumen, human desire, revolution, and vividness of feeling are all related. Rosa looked upon radical politics as a means of living life fully. She wanted everything: marriage and children, books and music, walks on a summer evening and the revolution, personal happiness and social justice, sex and art, democracy and working-class politics. She is an example for our time: a revolutionary socialist, Jewish, immigrant woman, who reminds us most fully what human beings need to feel human.”
—Vivian Gornick, author of Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life
“Excellent.”
—Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
John Peter Nettl (1926–68) was born in Vienna, but lived in England from 1936. After serving with British army intelligence during the Second World War, he studied at Oxford. He died in a plane crash in the United States in 1968.
PUBLISHER:
Verso Books
ISBN-10:
1788731670
ISBN-13:
9781788731676
BINDING:
Paperback
BOOK DIMENSIONS:
Dimensions: 5.5200(W) x Dimensions: 8.2500(H) x Dimensions: 2.5700(D)