According to famous historian Richard Pipes, Lenin was "very humble in his personal demands" and had "an austere, even ascetic way of living." This is significant because it reveals his mentality and honesty. When it came down to it, he could be a forceful, brutal leader. However, he did not enjoy being surrounded by sycophants so he often found himself alone when making decisions. Lenin started out as a revolutionary socialist but later changed his mind and decided that Russia should become a communist state. Although he created the Soviet Union, it soon turned into a dictatorship where he ruled absolutely. His own health began to fail in 1922 and he died on January 21, 1924. Although he wanted to live up to the ideals of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels only managed to write one book about him: "Lenin: A Study in Power". This book shows us that even though he was a great leader, he was not perfect. There are several schools of thought about Lenin's leadership abilities. Some historians believe that he was able to bring order out of chaos after the Russian Revolution by using Marxist theory as a guide, while others believe that this theory was only used as an excuse for him to seize power. Either way, he was able to lead the country to communism. Some critics claim that Lenin was not a genuine believer in Marxism but rather used it as a tool to gain power.