Klaus Leesch. <i>Eduard Bernstein (1850–1932). Leben und Werk</i> . 2 vols. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2024. 1788 pp. € 189.00. (E-book: € 179.99.)

Eduard Bernstein was -and remains -one of the most controversial figures in the history of European Marxism and socialism.For most partisans of the left, he was regarded as the father of "revisionism", ill-fated and ill-reputed.According to Leninist and orthodox Marxist mythology, he poisoned the minds and souls of the proletariat with illusions of reformism, diverting them from the revolutionary path.According to some of his later admirers, Bernstein paved the way for -and even created new prospects for -a genuine social-democratic view and a consistently reformist policy within the labour movement.His legacy, although widely unknown, remains contested to this day.Unfortunately, much of his vast corpus has never been translated, and little of it is known in the English-speaking world.Bernstein was one of the most prolific writers among the socialist intellectuals of his time.A complete-works edition, including his extensive journalistic output and unpublished manuscripts, would comprise at least twenty-five sizeable volumes.Such an edition remains a desideratum.In this monumental new biography, Klaus Leesch challenges the many legends and myths surrounding Bernstein's life and work.He presents the historical facts concerning the life and work of his subject in more than 1,000 pages, across two volumes.The author has scrutinized all the available material on Bernstein, visited all the archives, examined all the publications by and about Bernstein, and studied his written legacy, including his unpublished papers and extensive correspondence.In sixteen chapters and one excursus, he follows the main stages of Bernstein's long life, beginning with his childhood and youth in Berlin and ending with his final years as a respected elder statesman of German social democracy.He concludes with a chapter on Bernstein's legacy and its impact on the international socialist movement and Marxist tradition.Bernstein's career started from humble origins.However, as the son of a large Jewish family of modest means, he nonetheless enjoyed a good school education, although he had to leave the gymnasium without getting his high school diploma.For three years, he trained as a bank clerk and afterwards worked as a banker in the S&L Rothschild Bank in Berlin, for several years, learning a great deal about banking and the day-today business of the booming and rapidly developing capitalist economy in Germany during the 1870s, the period known as the Grnderzeit.During this time, he came into contact with radical students and working-class socialists.As early as 1872, at the age of twenty-two, he became a member of the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany).He soon became acquainted with August Bebel, Ignaz Auer, Wilhelm Liebknecht, and other leading SDAP members.Before long, he became a seasoned and widely