The Challenge of Bolshevism

Originally published in 1928, this book is a result of a visit to Russia by the author who stayed in a remote village and mixed with the local population. A crusader for social justice, Dorothy Buxton in theory saw Bolshevism as a fairer system and went to Russia to see the effects of the Revolution. With an intellectual honesty rarely seen by critics of Soviet Russia, the author examines fundamental questions of sociology and religion with some unexpected conclusions.

1. A New Social Ideal 2. New Goals but Old Methods 3. The Real Criteria 4. 'Tyranny' Old and New 5. The Relative Welfare of the People 6. Our worship of Wealth 7. Communist Criticism of 'Bourgeois' Ideals 8. Our God of Fashion 9. The Contrast of the 'Proletarian' Ideal 10. The Abolition of Class Distinctions 11. The Dignity of Labour and of Service 12. A New Standard of Values 13. How we Crush the Power of Sympathy 14. The Moral of Our Own Past 15. The Prostitution of Science and of Religion 16. Worthy Children of Our Fathers 17. Evolution or Revolution? 18. 'Life' The Ultimate Value 19. The 'State of Siege' in Russia 20. The Moral of the Great War 21. Capitalism and Democracy Incompatible 22. Which Form of Society The Least Cruel? 23. Which Form of Society Favours Peace? 24. The Real Promoters of Communism 25. The Ethics of 'Confiscation' 26. The Parallel of the War Indemnity 27. The Problem of 'Rights of Property' 28. Wealth and Christian Precepts 29. Wealth and Political Influence 30. The Analogy of the French Revolution 31. Idealists in Spite of Themselves 32. Citizens of the World 33. What Communism has Demonstrated 34. A Refuge for Christian ideas 35. A Fresh Start in 'Civilization' 36. A New Chapter in Religion 37. The Twofold Challenge of Bolshevism 38. Socialism and Pacifism 39. The Problem for a Quaker 40. The Superseding of Individualism