The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communism [Paperback]

Rodney Carlisle (Author), James H. Lide (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028643143
• ISBN-13: 978-0028643144
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,005,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, however., November 2, 2003

By 

Dave (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communism (Paperback)

This book to its credit generally gave a good overview of the history of Communism, however, it had two major shortcommings. The first was its obvious USA centrism which was well displayed in a summary towards the end of the book refering to US deaths in Vietnam without mentioning the Vietnamese deaths (are we to think US lives are more important than Vietnamese?). Additionally, the Complete Idiots Guide to Communism asserts that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident (the incident that set the official pretext for US involvement into the US/Vietnam conflict) was factually when it is generally agreed (even by the CIA) that this incident was stagged by the US military.

Secondly in the initial pages of the book it asserts that no communist or socialist government has ever gained power by means other than violent overthrough. This is plainly wrong. For such proof we need look no further than the election of Salvador Allende in Chille (susequenbtly killed by a US backed, right-wing military coup), or the recent democratic election of Hugo Charvez in Venezuela (admittedly, this may have happened after the books publication). If one cared to look through the history of socialist governments I am sure more examples could be found.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carlisle is a Master, December 17, 2003

By 

Jeff (MOUNT LAUREL, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communism (Paperback)

Carlisle does it again. This is a great work that should be read by all. Ignore the Monday morning quarterbacks that get upset when their (Australian) perceptions about Communism are not presented. This is an "easy in / easy out" guide that is truly enjoyable to read.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, basic book., May 18, 2002

By 

James Crabtree (Camp Purgatory, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communism (Paperback)

This book discusses, in a general way, Communism and its place in the 20th century. As such, it does a very good job, giving the reader an idea of who was who, the relevence of certain ideas, historical context, etc.
There were only two things that I felt took away from this book. One, the addition of a beginning chapter on pre-Revolutionary communes, mostly those of the United States. With the exception of the Paris Commune, these have no place in the rather narrow intellectual universe that marxists inhabit. The second thing that I felt kept this from being a truly great book (given its scope) was the fact that, unlike other "Idiot" books, this one did not have caricatures for the asides. I thought Marx, Lenin, and Stalin would have been great as cartoons explaining different aspects of communism.