BAsics
from the talks and writings of
Bob Avakian

"There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth."
So opens BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian. This book, released April 5, 2011 takes you on a remarkable journey through the brutal system that dominates the planet today to a vision of a new and far better revolutionary world. It lays out a roadmap of how to get there – breaking down how to understand the system we live under and how to struggle to transform it. Full of heart and soul, science, radical critique and revolutionary vision, BAsics is a work that a new movement for revolution can grow up around.

AWAY WITH ALL GODS!
Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World
Bob Avakian

"What most distinguishes Avakian's Away With All Gods from other much publicized books of this kind, such as those by Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, is the direct connection Avakian makes between combating religious fundamentalism and promoting a radical political agenda. Avakian is also to be commended not only for combining his religious freethinking with an endorsement of the modern Enlightenment tradition, but also for providing a sober warning against 'the smug arrogance of the enlightened.' Anyone who has read any of the other books mentioned above should also take the time to read this one."
—Allen Wood, author of Karl Marx and Kantian Ethics

Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy
Bob Avakian

This work builds on the post 1960's serious historical research into the reality of slavery in the USA and ties it into Jefferson's own outlook. While many fans of Jefferson focus on his criticisms of slavery, the fact is that he died a slave owner! In fact, he had a whole theoretical justification about how the US could be so much more inclusive in its democracy than England because "everyone" could be included -- if you think of "non-white" people (as well as women) as outside of the "everyone," that is.
But Avakian goes much farther, showing how the basic premises of "democratic" capitalism among "equals" will always lead to the development of ever-increasing inequalities, even in the most ideal circumstances.

From Ike to Mao and Beyond
My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist
a memoir by Bob Avakian

"Bob Avakian is a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism. His voice and witness are indispensable in our efforts to enhance the wretched of the earth. And his powerful story of commitment is timely."
— Cornel West

Observations on Art and Culture, Science and Philosophy
Bob Avakian

This provocative collection of reflections and observations by Bob Avakian on art, culture, science and philosophy offers a rare treat. Excerpted from formal talks as well as more informal discussions and conversations, many of the texts in this collection allow the reader to experience firsthand the freewheeling Bob Avakian—in the process of developing his thinking and reenvisioning the communist project on a wide range of controversies, from the dictatorship of the proletariat to discussions of truth, beauty, science and imagination. This collection will provide the reader with important, fresh, and provocative insights and provoke further creative and critical thinking on art, culture, science, philosophy... and revolution.

Preaching From a Pulpit of Bones
We Need Morality But Not Traditional Morality
Bob Avakian

This provocative book includes a scathing refutation of the reality behind conservative Christian fundamentalist morality, a critical look at the limitations of "liberation theology," including a discussion of Jim Wallis's book, The Soul of Politics, and an inspiring look at morality from a revolutionary perspective. This work is even more timely today as it was when it was published in 1999. Bob Avakian says in the Prologue that "From whatever vantage point one looks, it is unmistakable that there is what could be called a 'moral crisis' in America. There has been, to a significant degree, 'a breakdown of traditional morality.' But the answer to this—at least the answer that is in the interests of the majority of people in the U.S. and the overwhelming majority of humanity—is not a more aggressive assertion of that 'traditional morality' but winning people to a radically different morality, in the process of radically transforming society and the world as a whole."

Revolution and Communism: A Foundation and Strategic Orientation
A Revolution pamphlet (reprints from Revolution newspaper) May 1, 2008

This pamphlet emphatically challenges and refutes the message that revolution is impossible and communism unworkable and not desirable. In fact, revolution and communism are exactly what humanity needs! This pamphlet speaks to why communist revolution is not only necessary, but possible -- and how it could be made. It concentrates the strategic foundation and scaffolding for advancing on the road of revolution and communism, and winning growing numbers of the masses to that cause, through hard struggle (both against the enemy, but also including sharp ideological struggle with the masses) and with all the twists and turns that will inevitably be encountered.