Based on extensive research in the archives of the Soviet Communist Party, and the Russian secret police, Alexander Shlyapnikov, 1885-1937: Life of an Old Bolshevik stirringly recounts the political life of Alexander Shlyapnikov. Though purged from Soviet history books, Shlyapnikov was a leading member of the Workers’ Opposition (1919-21), and the most prominent of their ranks to call for the trade unions—as distinct from the Communist Party—to play a direct role in realizing workers’ control over the economy. Despite the defeat of this position, Shlyapnikov continued to advocate views on the Soviet socialist project that provided a counterpoint to Stalin’s vision. Arrested during the Great Terror, Shlyapnikov refused to confess to his alleged crimes against the party, openly declaring the charges illogical and unsubstantiated.

What emerges from Allen’s political portrait is an Old Bolshevik who stands in striking contrast to Stalin’s and the NKVD’s image of the ideal party member.