Vladimir Ilyich Lenin visited London on six occasions at the beginning of the twentieth century and it was in this city, where Marx wrote Das Kaphal, that the roots of Lenin's political thought took shape. This book, from a former curator of the Russian collections at the British Library, tells the story for the first time of Lenin's time in London, including his intriguing relationship with the enigmatic Apollinariya Yakubova - a revolutionary known to her comrades as the 'primeval force of the Black Earth'. The book reveals Lenin's London-based accomplices and political rivals, and sheds new light on his world-view - a philosophy which would have such a crucial impact on the twentieth century. As such, this is the first full exploration of the formation of one of the leading political visionaries of his age. Henderson has made a series of stunning archival discoveries, including photographs and new details about the Russian revolutionaries and police spies who congregated in the East End of London - known then as the 'Little Russian Island'. This is an essential addition to our knowledge of Lenin the man, and of the roots of the Russian revolution.