When Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 they sought to scrap the existing structures of government and substitute new ones based on Marxist principles. This book attempts a detailed account of their efforts to create a socialist 'cabinet' (Sovnarkom), to elaborate effective machinery and methods of operation, and to use it to govern the country.

This book attempts a detailed account of Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks their efforts to create a socialist 'cabinet' (Sovnarkom).