This study shows how Lenin's life was permanently altered at the age of seventeen by the execution of his brother Alexander, his transformation from a model student in secondary school into a revolutionary at the university, his fascination with Chernyshevsky, and his long involvement with the Jacobin wing of the revolutionary movement. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.