Faces Of Janus: Marxism And Fascism In The Twentieth Century [Paperback]

James A. Gregor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2004

Attempting to understand the catalogue of horrors that has characterised much of twentieth-century history, Western scholars generally distinguish between violent revolutions of the "right" and the "left". Fascist regimes are assigned to the evil right, Marxist-Leninist regimes to the benign left. But this distinction has left us without a coherent understanding of the revolutionary history of the twentieth century, contends A. James Gregor in this insightful book. He traces the evolution of Marxist theory from the 1920s through the 1990s and argues that the ideology of Marxism-Leninism devolved into fascism. Fascist regimes and Communist regimes - both anti-democratic ideocracies - are far more closely related than has been recognised. Employing wide-ranging primary source materials in Italian, German, Russian, and Chinese, the book opens with an examination of the first standard Marxist interpretation of Mussolini's fascism in the early 1920s and proceeds through the emergence of fascist phenomena in post-Communist Russia. A clearer understanding of the relation between fascism and communism provides a sharper lens through which to view twentieth-century history as well as the present and future politics of Russia, Communist China, and other non-democratic states, Gregor concludes.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Roman god Janus represents beginnings and endings, the gateway to all knowledge. Gregor (political science, Univ. of California, Berkeley; Phoenix: Fascism in Our Time), who has written extensively on fascism, takes issue with 20th-century historians who make fascism and communism the opposing faces of Janus. OCLC WorldCat indicates the availability of over 600 works on fascism in the 1990s, but Gregor is the first to use Marxist theory systematically to bend the political spectrum from a linear to a circular form. That is, fascism and communism meld into each other. Fascism had its origins in communism, and communism exhibited facets of fascism from its inception. Since the Soviet empire broke up, its logical course is toward fascism. The real political spectrum Gregor sees is democratic and nondemocratic: "The fact is that what is now spoken of as 'communofascism' and 'Stalinofascism' serves as testimony to affinities long recognized by those who have refused to place the revolutions of the twentieth century on a continuum from Left to Right." Gregor uses the repetition of key points to convince his audience but uses subtle changes in each new chapter to move his argument forward in small increments. Recommended for all political science collections, this book supplements The Black Book of Communism (LJ 11/1/99).
-Harry V. Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. Syst., Iola
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This book makes a very important point, namely that historians and political scientists of the twentieth century have persistently misunderstood the fundamental similarities between 'Fascism' and 'Communism.'" Richard Pipes, Harvard University, author of The Unknown Lenin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300106025
• ISBN-13: 978-0300106022
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Insightful, April 12, 2001

By 

"03jdc" (Williamstown, MA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

This book is an absolute must-have for any serious student of totalitarianism in the 20th century. Gregor has put together a very well-researched and cogent account of the singular nature of Bolshevism and Fascism, and explores convincingly the link each has to popular revolution in the face of national humiliation and economic weakness. Of special interest is the idea that because the Bolshevik Revolution took place in a largely agrarian and "industrially retrograde" society its similarities to Mussolini's Fascism were inevitable. Furthermore, Gregor's thesis helps to underline how the USSR, Communist China, and their satellite states operated or operate under a perversion of true Marxist doctrine. Almost implies that Fascism is really just Bolshevism unchained by phony Enlightenment values. This book is HIGHLY recommended.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what the radical left needs to hear...., September 21, 2003

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"mnkos" (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

This book brilliantly exposes the true, almost universal nature of 20th century revolutionary regimes. The similarities between Stalinism and Italian Fascism were indeed more profound than their differences... and one conclusion that can be taken away from this book is that supporters of the so-called "leftist" version of this phenomenon should indeed be held to the same level of accountability as the supporters of the "right-wing" variant.

One should also consider the ability of Stalinists to portray their fascist revolutions in progressive light during the 20th century... and what forms of radical ideology could/are being made to seem palatable to the West in 21st century...

Radical Islamo-fascism primarily comes to mind.

22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book by a Great Author, June 28, 2000

By 

johann strauss - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

This book was very good. It explained one man's theory of how fascism and Marxism are alike. This subject interests me greatly so I decided to buy the book. His theory is one that I have never truly thought of but now I wish he would write a sequel to this book. It is well researched, wrote, and just about everything else. It is definitely worth the price. However I must note that you must know the meaning of the word proletariant and many other words to fully understand this book. At times this book had questionable parts and I would re-read them and then understand them. If you know a lot about communism, marxism, fascism, and revolutions then this book might seem like a walk in the park for you. Overall it is a very good book.