A lengthy introduction to the marxism of Pannekoek and Gorter, followed by five translated texts from these two authors.

From the back cover: "Anton Pannekoek and Herman Gorter were known throughout revolutionary Europe of the1910s and 1920s as the leading spokesmen for 'council communism'. They argued then for the primacy of the workers' own organisations, defending their importance against the parliamentarists and the bolsheviks who saw in the party the nub of working-class organisation, and against the anarchists who saw anatheme in all organization.

"The council communists were important enough in their day to provoke Lenin into attacking them in a celebrated pamphlet, 'Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder'. They are of particular interest today when conventional ideas about party organisation are coming under critical scrutiny.

"This volume contains representative texts by Pannekoek and Gorter, translated into English for the first time by the editor."