A great issue with the first translation into English of the 1882 introduction to a Russian edition of the Manifesto by Marx and Engels (linked to online text below), International Publishers editor and Marxist historian Alexander Trachtenberg’s fine article ‘Marx, Lenin and the Commune,’the first English translation of an October, 1914 speech by Lenin in Switzerland, ‘The Proletarian and War’ (linked to online text below), eager heir Jay Lovestone pays tribute to his comrade and factional ally, departed C.P. leader C.E. Ruthenberg providing good biographical background, U.S. Comintern representative John Pepper (Joseph Pogany) on the Canton Commune, the continuation of an probing piece by William Z. Foster on the employers; offensive, and Marxist critic V.F. Calverton, then in his Communist years, with his excellent ‘Literature and Economics.’

The Communist. Vol. 7 No. 1. March, 1928.

Contents: America and Russia (1882) by Marx and Engels, Marx Lenin and the Commune by Alexander Ttrachtenberg, The Proletariat and War (October 14, 1914) by V.I. Lenin, Ruthenberg as Fighter and Leader by Jay Lovestone, After the Canton Uprising by John Pepper, Atheism and Evolution by Bertram D. Wolfe, Capitalist Efficiency “Socialism” by William. Z. Foster, Save the Miners’ Union Call, Literature and Economics V.F. Calverton, Book Reviews.

There are a number of journals with this name in the history of the movement. This ‘Communist’ was the main theoretical journal of the Communist Party from 1927 until 1944. Its origins lie with the folding of The Liberator, Soviet Russia Pictorial, and Labor Herald together into Workers Monthly as the new unified Communist Party’s official cultural and discussion magazine in November, 1924. Workers Monthly became The Communist in March ,1927 and was also published monthly. The Communist contains the most thorough archive of the Communist Party’s positions and thinking during its run. The New Masses became the main cultural vehicle for the CP and the Communist, though it began with with more vibrancy and discussion, became increasingly an organ of Comintern and CP program. Over its run the tagline went from “A Theoretical Magazine for the Discussion of Revolutionary Problems” to “A Magazine of the Theory and Practice of Marxism-Leninism” to “A Marxist Magazine Devoted to Advancement of Democratic Thought and Action.” The aesthetic of the journal also changed dramatically over its years. Editors included Earl Browder, Alex Bittelman, Max Bedacht, and Bertram D. Wolfe.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/communist/v07n01-jan-1928-communist.pdf