M. Moskovsky rabochy [Moscow worker]. 1984. 366 p.

An inexhaustible, ageless theme - Lenin and the youth. More and more generations are taking the path of struggle for the revolutionary renewal of the world. And in solving the problems set before them by history, they turn to Lenin's ideas, to his great example in life, as a compass that helps them find answers to the most pressing questions. First of all, these are questions of formation, revolutionary education of the younger generation, and the formation of a scientific, Marxist-Leninist worldview among young people. Today, as more than 60 years ago, when our Komsomol adopted the name of V. I. Lenin, the task of educating young people on the example of his life and activities, on the revolutionary, combat and labor traditions of the Communist Party and the Soviet people is still relevant. Lenin and the youth are a key topic in the consideration and solution of all the fundamental problems of the youth movement in the modern era and its history .1
1 See: Mukhamedzhanov M. M. Molodezh i revolyutsiya (U istokov mezhdunarodnogo revolyutsionnogo dvizheniya molodezhi) [Youth and Revolution (At the origins of the International revolutionary movement of Youth)], Moscow, 1972; Trushchenko N. V. Istochnik sily. The Party-organizer and head of the Komsomol, Moscow, 1973. United by the word of Ilyich. Historical essay on the Third Congress of the RKSM. Moscow, 1980; Trainin A. S.

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One of the researchers of this topic is the winner of the Lenin Komsomol Prize in the field of science, Candidate of Historical Sciences V. I. Desyaterik2 . When developing and covering the issues of the struggle of Lenin, the Bolsheviks, and foreign internationalists-Leninists for youth, the author introduces new materials into scientific circulation, turns to subjects considered by other authors, and, as a rule, reveals new aspects of the topic. When analyzing the processes and phenomena that have taken place and are taking place in the youth environment, it is not limited to the geographical boundaries of individual countries, the framework of individual national or international organizations, which significantly expands the possibilities for identifying general patterns of Leninism's impact on the broad masses of young people.

V. I. Desyaterik's research works on youth are characterized by a literary and journalistic style. The ability to be understandable not only to a narrow circle of specialists, the popularity of the presentation significantly expands the readership and makes a scientific work a direct weapon in the ideological struggle.

And in the book under review, the author acts both as a researcher-historian and as a popularizer, publicist.

Among historical works on Komsomol-youth issues, V. I. Desyaterik's book stands out for its genre features. The author defines the first part, which tells about Lenin's help to the Komsomol at the time of its formation, as a journalistic narrative, and the second part, dedicated to Lenin's speech at the Third Komsomol Congress, as a documentary reportage. And this is by no means a departure from scientific approach, since the author goes beyond the traditional sources and relies on a wider range of materials to justify the propositions put forward by him.

It has long been the norm in the historical literature that the analysis of the development processes in the youth movement is done on the basis of Lenin's works, documents of the CPSU, the international Communist movement, and communist youth unions. Memories of participants in events are most often used only as additional, illustrative material. And this is natural. But, unfortunately, many researchers, striving for more documentation, generally ignore this source. As a result, historical events are presented in isolation from human destinies, which impoverishes the narrative.

For V. I. Desyaterik, the living human material contained in memories is not something secondary, but one of the main sources of scientific research. This approach is predetermined by the achieved and rather high level of development of the problem "Lenin and Youth". The authors of the memoirs on which V. I. Desyaterik relies are veterans of the party and the Komsomol who knew Lenin. Their political face is known. And their memoirs, which have come down to us, are balanced on the scales of history.

The book focuses the reader's attention on the first years of the Russian Komsomol's activity. The author focuses on the analysis of the memoirs of S. M. Kirov, N. K. Krupskaya, N. I. Podvoysky, E. D. Stasova, prominent figures and activists of the Komsomol E. Herr, E. Drabkina, N. Penkov and others. These memoirs allow him to trace Lenin's position on the most important issues of creating an organization of revolutionary youth in Russia (goals, tasks, principles of construction), forms and methods of struggle and education of the younger generation.

It is well known how important Lenin's conversation with the delegation of the First Congress of the RKSM was for this purpose. The memoirs of the participants of the meeting were published both then, under the direct impression of it, and in later years. Not all of them differ in accuracy, and in some details they sometimes contradict each other. Recreation of this meeting of the leader with representatives of the newly created Komsomol-from-

Under the banner of the revolution. Communist Party-leader of the revolutionary youth movement, organizer of the Komsomol. M. 1975; Zubkov V. A., Privalov V. V. Lenin and youth. L. 1977; Atsarkin A. N. Proletarian Revolution and youth. Rozhdenie komsomol [The birth of the Komsomol], Moscow, 1981; Sulemov V. A. Soyuz molodykh bortsov. Teoriya, istoricheskiy opyt i sovremennye problemy komsomolskogo stroitelstva [Theory, historical experience and modern problems of Komsomol construction].

2 See Desyaterik V. I. Revolyutsionnye traditsii - molodomu pokoleniyu [Revolutionary traditions for the young generation]. The activities of V. I. Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the revolutionary education of young people. 1903-1917. Moscow, 1980; et al.

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responsible task. And the author scrupulously works on its solution, brings together numerous testimonies, identifies the most accurate details and from them reconstructs the picture of the event, the content of Lenin's conversation with the messengers of the Komsomol congress. The book notes that the leader's comments and parting words received "a programmatic sound for the activities of Komsomol organizations" (p. 48).

Lenin, the leader of the Communist Party and founder of the first workers 'and peasants' state in the world, was truly boundless and paternal in his concern for the youth. This is evidenced by the numerous data given in the book from the biographical chronicle of V. I. Lenin, the memoirs of N. K. Krupskaya, and the testimonies of all those who came into contact with him in one way or another. At meetings of the Politburo, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the Council of People's Commissars, numerous business meetings, and meetings, Lenin spoke about youth, its problems, and their solutions. Lenin deeply believed in the creative powers and enormous potential of the younger generation. The main precepts of Lenin's youth were voiced in his speech at the Third Congress of the RKSM "Tasks of youth unions" on October 2, 1920. Contemporaries, the author notes, rightly defined it as "bottomlessly deep" (p. 349). The book shows that the most important propositions put forward and justified in Lenin's speech are still relevant today. Describing its significance, the author emphasizes that it does not consist in the fact that it sets out formulas suitable for all cases and times (the great teacher of youth was the most resolute opponent of a non-creative attitude to revolutionary theory, turning it into ossified dogmas); its strength lies in the fact that it determines the direction of the Komsomol's work, only in the fact that The task of the younger generation is to learn communism, and this work is built differently at each historical stage, in the specific conditions of each generation. The author recalls the importance of Lenin's instructions that theoretical attitudes and political slogans should correspond to the essence of the moment being experienced; he emphasizes that Lenin taught the Komsomol members, young men and women, realism, and armed them with a revolutionary and critical approach to reality.

Based on Lenin's documents, testimonies of the leader's associates, and direct participants in the events, V. I. Desyaterik thoroughly analyzes the historical situation of that time. This helps to evaluate more deeply and accurately every Leninist word addressed from the rostrum of the Third Congress of the RKSM. The author shows the significance of Lenin's precepts for young people in the following years. Along with the memoirs of people who personally knew Lenin, the book includes statements by prominent figures of the youth movement of the 30s - General Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee A. Kosarev and one of the leaders of the Komsomol of the USA, K. Lightfoot, the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, young communists of our days from the USSR, GDR, Vietnam and other countries. This emphasizes the revolutionary continuity of generations of fighters, the vital force of Lenin's precepts of youth. Today, in new historical conditions, with new means, the Komsomol and the young generation of the Soviet country are solving under the leadership of the party the same important tasks that were set by Lenin in his famous speech.

The book under review is an example of a historical work that works directly today, being a weapon of our party in the ideological struggle. At the same time, some considerations can be made about the work of V. I. Desyaterik. The author provides interesting factual material about the dissemination abroad of Lenin's speech at the Third Congress of the RKSM, but does not show its practical significance in the struggle to overcome the avant-garde and other sectarian tendencies in the CIM, the process of internationalization of the experience of our party in leading the Komsomol in the international communist youth movement of the 20s-30s. Meanwhile, already in the resolution of the Third Congress of the Comintern "The Communist International and the Communist Youth Movement", adopted in the summer of 1921 with Lenin's participation, these and other aspects of the fraternal parties ' work with the youth were widely covered .3
It is a pity that the book lacks a scientific reference device. In cases where the author cites Lenin's little-known statements about youth and its problems, I would like him to name the appropriate sources. Would be useful like this-

3 See V. I. Lenin and the Communist International, Moscow, 1970, pp. 329-333.

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the same biographical information about the people mentioned in the book, participants in the events described.

These comments do not diminish the overall positive outlook of V. I. Desyaterik's new book, which significantly expands and deepens our knowledge of Lenin's diverse revolutionary and transformative activities, and makes a significant contribution to the scientific development and promotion of Lenin's concept of communist youth education.

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