The State and Revolution is a critical analysis of Marxism. Written by Vladimir Illich Lenin in 1917, it annotates, as well as draws conclusions and generalizations on the works of Marx and Engels on communism. Lenin's main focus in this work was to clarify the distortions of Marxism by outlining what Marx and Engels taught on the state. He discusses many topics, and in particular: what the state really is, the "withering away" of the state, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the stages of communism. Although Lenin clarifies the theories of Marxism in The State and Revolution, he fails to prove that complete communism is attainable for any society.

Lenin's first aim in The State and Revolution was to clarify what Marx and Engels believed the state really is. The belief that the state is an organ for reconciliation between the classes is...