Lukács' History and Classconsciousness arose in the course and as a consequence of his post-World War I activities. The book illustrates what ambitions Lukács entertained: to wrench away not only from Moscow but from everyone the intellectual leadership of the Communist movement because he was convinced that he knew better than any among his comrades what communism in its essence is, how it should be articulated, and what its relationship to Marxism was.