pt. 1. Introduction : V.I. Lenin's life and legacy. V.I. Lenin and the founding of the Soviet state -- The Russia of Lenin's youth -- Lenin as revolutionary -- World War I and the Russian Revolution -- Bolshevik rule and the new Soviet state -- War Communism : ideology or pragmatism? -- Lenin's last active years : the new economic policy and other innovations -- Lenin's decline -- Lenin's legacy -- pt. 2. The documents. Lenin and the Bolshevik seizure of power, 1900-1917 -- The monopolization of power during the civil war : 1917-1920 -- Threats to the Revolution : the development of the new economic polity -- The sick leader : de facto removal from power