Lenin by Robert Service
Really had some interesting stuff in it. Some things I recall years later that our capitalist society never mentions include:
-Lenin's older brother was killed by the Tzar when Lenin was still very young. Which probably gave Lenin some serious fuel to plot overthrowing the dictatorship.
-Lenin didn't really have a very high opinion of Stalin and didn't want him to get in charge.
-Lenin got shot in the neck in 1920 I think it was, which probably led to his death by 1922. This combined with already knowing how the capitalist nations all attacked after Russia overthrew it's dictatorship, I think excuses Lenin's anti-democratic actions in those few short years he had.
-the communist revolution in Russia in 1917 is not remotely in any way, shape or form a blueprint for change in modern times. Differences include:

1. The army was starving to death and open to the idea of communism. Today if they were starving they'd go for some rightwing military dictator, which even back then they almost did.
2. There was no sophisticated corporate news media which gave 99% of people all their (extreme procapitalist) political information. Back then socialism wasn't considered absurd.
3. They were overthrowing what was clearly a dictatorship (IOW a monarchy). Most people think we've got a democracy today.
4. This was before TV and cars, the two most isolation inventions in history. Back then people generally had to leave their houses and interact with one another for entertainment. Now we're so isolated, or divided, that there's absolutely no organization in place to accomplish anything against the state.
5. The state wasn't the well oiled cohesive machine back then that it is today. Back then most transportation was by horse. And in Russia at least they didn't even keep good records about their dissidents. It was a chaotic situation. A sophisticated corporate media hadn't brainwashed the populace against socialism. The army was starving. If you got together some people with guns, you had a chance.

So (a very few unbrainwashed) people today talk about the need for a vanguard, as if we need to follow the model used from way back then. Absurdity. Incredibly absurd. If there was any remote chance of a socialist revolution in the US (which is impossible thanks to the work of the corporate media) they would immediately use force and crush it.

It wouldn't take weeks for a message to travel to some remote location of unrest. They wouldn't have to send troops on horseback. In 30 minutes, very well fed army troops with machine guns, bullet proof vests, rightwing FOX news views, tanks, bombs, etc would there to permanently disappear you. Off for waterboarding or whatever.