Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che [Paperback]

Max Elbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

The first in-depth study of the long march of the US New Left after 1968.

Revolution In The Air is the first in-depth study of the long march of the US New Left after 1968. It tells the story of the 'new communist movement' which was the most racially integrated and fast-growing movement on the Left. Thousands of young activists, radicalized by the Vietnam War and Black Liberation, and spurred on by the Puerto Rican, Chicano and Asian-American movements, embraced a Third World oriented version of Marxism. These admirers of Mao, Che and Amilcar Cabral organized resistance to the republican majorities of Nixon and Ford.

By the 1980s these groups had either collapsed or become tiny shards of the dream of a Maoist world revolution. Taking issue with the idea of a division between an early 'good sixties' and a later 'bad sixties,' Max Elbaum is particularly concerned to reclaim the lessons of the new communist movement for today's activists who, like their sixties' predecessors, are coming of age at a time when the Left lacks mass support and is fragmented along racial lines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The breadth of Elbaum's knowledge... marks this book as an absolutely first-rate work of political scholarship. (Village Voice )

Truly a superb work of scholarship that raises all the right questions... (Radical History )

It should be required reading for those interested in the modern history of social movements and for radicals of my generation who are trying to find out what went wrong. (Los Angeles Times )

If you still believe sixties radicalism was nothing more than youthful middle-class confusion or parochial identity politics, then open these pages and dig. (Robin D. G. Kelley )

About the Author

Max Elbaum was a member of Students for a Democratic Society and a leader of one of the main new communist movement organizations. His writings have appeared in the Nation, the US Guardian, CrossRoads, and the Encyclopedia of the American Left. He lives in Oakland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Verso (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844675637
• ISBN-13: 978-1844675630
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,457,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Chronicle and Analysis of the Movement, May 10, 2002

By 

Thomas M. Seay (Palo Alto, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che (Hardcover)

Having participated in the New Communist Movement (as a member of
the WVO/CWP) I was delighted for many reasons to read this book.
First of all, it was delightful for nostalgic purposes. For many years I have wanted to compare notes with some of my old political colleagues and try to evaluate what happened during the movement and what went wrong. This book definitely sets a framework for analysis of the movement.

A couple of criticisms of the book. I felt that it was quite good about summarizing the period 68-73 but was a bit shallow on the period 1974-1980. For example it barely mentioned the huge
miner strikes that took place in the late 70s and the involvement
of the NCM in that and its ramifications (having grown up in West Virginia, this is how I got involved). Also, I thought the few lines devoted to the Greensboro massacre and the CWP5 warranted more attention as this had huge ramifications not only for the CWP but for the rest of the Left as well. Another important struggle going on at that time was the student anti-apartheid movement, in which the NCM was heavily involved,
which gets no mention at all in the book.

The author does a good job of pointing out the overly optimistic
expectations of the movement, the top-down anti-democratic
vanguard leninist structure of the movement's groups, the movement's tendancy to be blinded by marxist-leninist dogma,
and it pursuit of ideological purity as opposed to building
a movement based on existing conditions.

I definitely recommend this book to those interested in US Leftist history, those who were in the movement and still licking their wounds, as well as young people who are getting politically involved now and who want to avoid the errors of the NCM...

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informative and factual book, June 30, 2002

By 

Gerald Lenoir (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che (Hardcover)

I found Max Elbaum's book on the New Communist Movement (NCM) interesting and informative. Max's factual and historical account of the rise and fall of the NCM is helpful for those of us who lived through it and can be valuable for today's young radicals. His attention to detail and analysis of what went wrong were compelling. His description of the heady days of the surge in mass movements and their precipitous decline provided the backdrop for the voluntarism and dogmatism of the NCM.

I came into the movement at a time when Third World revolutions headed by Marxists seemingly had U.S. imperialism on the ropes. As a African American activist, I was greatly influenced by the struggles and revolutionaries from Guinea Bissau, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia. I and many others espoused the "Third World Marxism" that Max writes about.

More time could have been spent in the book on the influence of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party on budding revolutionaries of the time. I would have also liked more discussion on the role of the FBI's COINTELPRO in infiltrating and disrupting organizations.

Overall Max's book helped me to take a step back and understand the contributions and failings of the NCM. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand the history of the left in the U.S.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Movement History, Critical Lessons for Today, June 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che (Hardcover)

Revolution in the Air fills a huge gap by giving today's activists and students access to previously unrecorded history of the rise and fall of the post-60s New Communist Movement. A leading organizer of one wing of the movement, Elbaum explains why so many '60s movement activists turned to revolutionary politics from 1968 to 1973 and then tells what they did in the 70s and 80s. He highlights the strengths and insights of the movement that have been left out of the historical record, while providing a balanced, critical and self-critical accounting of its weaknesses. Unlike many other many other 60s books, it gives due attention to 60s-generated revolutionaries from all sectors, particularly to movements in communities of color.

For young activists and more experienced ones trying to get our bearings in a right-wing world, Elbaum's book offers positive lessons about what we should learn from the new communist movement's experience -- like its emphasis on anti-imperialism and anti-racism -- and mistakes we should avoid. Especially important is Elbaum's argument that the New Communist Movement inaccurately assessed the historical conditions they faced, leading them to wrongly prioritize party-building and internecine warfare on the left over building a broad movement of resistance to the right.

The book is accessible, engaging, and clear. It relies heavily on written materials from the movement's organizations. More interviews with activists from the period would have strengthened the book, but this is a minor quibble. Overall, this book is one of the best I've read on the radicals of the 60s and what today's radicals have to learn from them.