Imperialism: The highest Stage of Capitalism

Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Russian: Империализм как высшая стадия капитализма, romanized: Imperializm kak vysshaja stadija kapitalizma), originally published as Imperialism, the Newest Stage of Capitalism (Russian: Империализм как новейший этап капитализма, romanized: Imperializm kak novejshij etap kapitalizma), is a book written by Vladimir Lenin in 1916 and published in 1917. It describes the formation of oligopoly, by the interlacing of bank and industrial capital, in order to create a financial oligarchy, and explains the function of financial capital in generating profits from the exploitation colonialism inherent to imperialism, as the final stage of capitalism. The essay synthesises Lenin's developments of Karl Marx's theories of political economy in Das Kapital (1867).