 For Hook, the realization of Leninist rule in Russia required that Lenin be interpreted as an “event-making” hero. This thesis is incompatible with Marxism. According to Marxism, the actions of those who are identified as heroes in history must be interpreted as “determined,” or strongly “conditioned,” by the economic substructure. In The Hero in History, Hook’s criticism of the Marxist theory of history hinges upon an account of the historical achievements of the hero, Lenin, who brought about a Marxist state in Russia. Thus, ironically, the work that marked Hook’s final break with Marxism was an un-Marxist interpretation of the achievement of Lenin in his founding of the Marxist socialist state. (Hook, The Hero in History, 1943, Chapter X).