Admirers of C.L.R. James have long known that he developed a theory of the Soviet Union as a state capitalist society. But his most important writings on the topic have long been unobtainable. This volume aims to change that. C.L.R. James (1901-1989) was a novelist, activist, and political theorist who worked with Leon Trotsky, Richard Wright, and Kwame Nkrumah. He wroteThe Black Jacobins, helped create a network of pan-African organizers, and served as a delegate to the founding congress of the Fourth International. Scott McLemee is the editor ofC.L.R. James and "the Negro Question." He received the National Book Critics Circle's award for excellence in reviewing in 2004 and has served on the NBCC board of directors.