Russell Brands “Revolution” was one of the first left wing books i read. I was trying to get off heroin at the time and, I guess just because he spoke so openly about his struggles with the drug and seemed to have come out of it alright, he was almost a kind of role model, at least in that respect. Once I got into Marxism it became clear to me that he was a grifter with no real answers, even when he was still on the left, and I haven’t thought of him for many years. The sad thing is how obvious his predatory behaviour seems in hindsight - all those uncomfortable women laughing at him in interviews so that they don’t lose their jobs, his rapey jokes, the obvious narcissism and getting off on crossing peoples boundaries. And that was the model presented to us back then for how to be successful with women - that kind of superficial gamey aggression. Nowdays with people like Tate it’s even more insane. Anyway I hope he gets his due.
I think it’s debatable, but Goebbels did write in his diary at the time that they had found a Soviet grave/massacre of Polish officers and would be using it for anti-Soviet propaganda.