Welcome again to everybody. Make yourself at home. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is the weekly discussion thread.
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I’ve never found a single source that perfectly explains dialectical materialism (I’ve refined my own understanding using several texts and discussions), so I can’t give a good suggestion. Dialectical and Historical Materialism is a fairly good introduction to historical materialism specifically. I haven’t read Elementary Principles of Philosophy yet so I can’t comment on how suitable it is, I just wouldn’t put it at the top of the list in its section, and I’d probably note the approximate length of every text.
Blackshirts and Reds is another one – I’d probably mention the “yellow Parenti” clip first and then recommend B&R as a follow-up
Gotcha, I’m working on adding the times. Personally, I’ve read both Dialectical and Historical Materialism and Elementary Principles of Philosophy, and although I love how clear and calm Stalin’s writing style is, Politzer really walks you through, and it’s ball-park within range of On Practice combined with On Contradiction in length.
Will look at swapping Yellow Parenti and B&R!