Within the communist and socialist tradition processes of memory and the construction of identity have been highly politicised. One notable arena for the development of this has been in the writing and rewriting of biography and autobiography. The themes articles in this issue of Socialist History consider the nature of writing about the self and the political uses of such historical writing. Reinser Tosstorff presents a study of Alexander Lozovsky's early years, the first biographical study in English of the Profintern General Secretary, which shows the ways in which he rewrote his own identity according to political circumstance. Francis King's account of Vladimir Bazarov, a leading authority on Marx and translator of much of his work, traces the fate of one of the first dissident communists in the Soviet Union. Emmet O'Connor presents a critical examination of the autobiography of Irish Communists in the Spanish Civil War, looking at the mythic purposes which such writing serves. Stephen Hopkins compares the forms of self-representation of Irish Republicans with those in other radical traditions. Finally, in the perspectives section, Guiseppe Vatalaro looks at the changes and continuities in Italian communist politics and ideology in the period of Berlinguer's Democratic Alternative.