 In the Western world, biographers began writing about Lenin soon after his death; some—like Christopher Hill—were sympathetic to him, and others—like Richard Pipes and Robert Gellately—expressly hostile.Some later biographers, such as Read and Lars Lih, sought to avoid making either hostile or positive comments about him, thereby evading politicised stereotypes.Among sympathisers, he was portrayed as having made a genuine adjustment of Marxist theory that enabled it to suit Russia's particular socio-economic conditions.