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Loading... Communism: A History (1994)by Richard Pipes
   None No current Talk conversations about this book. Disappointing after his 'Russia Under the Old Regime', which is a model of deeply-informed objective analysis. No sane person could defend the record of communist regimes in practise, or suggest that there has been any indication at all in actuality that the communist ideal could ever be realisable. But the author's own prejudices unmistakably and increasingly emerge, resulting in an unevenness of description and analysis that somewhat undermine the book's authoritativeness as a concise guide to the most important ideological/social/political movement of our time. Nevertheless the author's analysis of the contradictions inherent to communist regimes is clear and straightforward, and his discussion of Lenin and Leninism leaves anyone pretending that everything was fine until Stalin took over with nowhere to hide. (  ) martin1400 | Mar 3, 2015 |  Very easy to read. A great critique of communism from a conservative, even Christian in some parts, point of view. (  ) ORFisHome | Jul 13, 2009 | A short overview of the history of communism around the world, though dealing mainly with the USSR. Straightforward, passably well written, deals with as much of communist history as you can expect within 170 pages, but without any explanation or characterisation you would feel obliged to underline, or even read twice. ( ) jahn | Mar 14, 2009 | One of a series of Modern Library Chronicles, brief reviews of historical subjects. The format is like an extended essay focused on a single historical subject. This book covers Communism, and is written by the author of a history of the Russian revolution. It is excellently written, and has real insight into the failed experiment of the 20th century. Pipes describes the beginning of the theory, the development through the international movements, and the Russian revolution and Soviet state in the early part of the book. He then takes up the attempted spread of worldwide communism. He is relentless in his description of the failed logic of the communist system, and offers choice quotes and judicious comments on the historical record. (  ) neurodrew | Nov 12, 2008 | Very easy to read. A great critique of communism from a conservative, even Christian in some parts, point of view. (  ) IFREF | Apr 24, 2007 | no reviews | add a review
"Beginning with Plato and the first expressions of a utopian vision of a property-less society, Richard Pipes describes Communism's historical antecedents, through to Marx, Engels and the birth of 'communism' as a theory calling for the abolition of property and a call to arms. He traces its spread to Russia and its adoption by young radical intellectuals led by Lenin, and explores why Russia, against all Marx's predictions, was the first country to adopt Communism. He goes on to reckon with the history of the Soviet Union, from the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, Stalin, Stalinism and the Great Terror, and the Second World War to the regime's decline and its ultimate collapse. Pipes also looks at Communism in its global context, from its spread to China and the Third World to its reception in the West, the Comintern, and the world-wide power struggle known as the Cold War. Finally he analyses the reasons why Communism failed, and recounts the staggering human cost it inflicted on the world in the twentieth century." -- BOOK JACKET. No library descriptions found. |
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