This year marks the centenary of the birth of Ted Grant, founder of the International Marxist Tendency. In addition to remaining firm on the basic principles of Marxism in the difficult situation following the death of Trotsky, Ted contributed greatly to the development of Marxist theory in the postwar period. We are proud to announce the publication of Ted Grant: The Permanent Revolutionary, a new political biography by his friend and comrade, Alan Woods. The book is set to launch in late May in Toronto and Montreal, featuring Fred Weston, the managing editor of In Defence of Marxism.

Today marks the 95th anniversary of the most important event in human history -- the victory of the October Revolution and the overthrow of capitalism in Russia. For this momentous event, we republish a speech given in Copenhagen by the great revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, on the 15th anniversary of the revolution. In this speech, Trotsky sets out what actually occurred in Russia leading up to the 1917 revolution, and its significance to working-class movement worldwide. Furthermore, Trotsky outlines the Stalinist degeneration of the revolution and how the totalitarian monstrosity that arose in the USSR was far removed from what socialism genuinely is.

Two decades have passed since Francis Fukuyama published a book entitled The End of History and the Last Man, proclaiming the definitive triumph of market economics and bourgeois democracy. This idea seemed to be confirmed by almost 20 years of soaring markets and virtually uninterrupted economic growth. Politicians, central bankers and Wall Street managers were convinced that they had finally tamed the economic cycle of booms and slumps.

We are reproducing a slightly edited version of 'What is Marxism?' by Rob Sewell and Alan Woods, last published in 1983 to celebrate the centenary of the death of Karl Marx. The three articles on the fundamental aspects of Marxism, Marxist Economics, Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism were originally published separately in the 1970s. These articles are a good, brief introduction to the basic methods of Marxism and can serve as a first approach to the ideas developed by Marx and Engels.