Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The idea of a classless, fully egalitarian society first emerged in classical Greece..." (more)
Key Phrases: sobranie sochinenii, Soviet Union, Communist Party, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As Harvard University professor Richard Pipes shows in Communism: A Brief History, the tragedy of Communism is that its history was anything but brief. For most of the 20th century, it held much of the globe in its fatal grip: The utopian ideology is responsible for nearly 100 million deaths, which is 50 percent more than the number of people killed in the two world wars combined. "Communism was not a good idea that went wrong; it was a bad idea," writes Pipes, who is also the author of The Russian Revolution and Property and Freedom.

This compelling little book is a devastating critique of Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism, and everything else that fits under the awful rubric of Communism. It begins by tracing Communism's philosophical origins (it has antecedents in Plato) and then outlines the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Next comes the story of why Communism took root in Russia and not the industrial West, where Marx himself believed it would sprout (answer: the traditions of property rights and the rule of law were too strong). Even in Russia, Communism was not the product of popular demand (in fact, it has never been the product of popular demand anywhere). Instead, it was a top-down revolution imposed on the whole country by a small minority of elites, led by Lenin. The Communists claimed to represent workers, but few workers were actually a part of their movement. Thus, "the Communists had to rule despotically and violently; they could never afford to relax their authority." And they were capable of incredible cruelty: "The so-called purges of the 1930s were a terror campaign that in indiscriminate ferocity and number of victims had no parallel in world history." In 1937 and 1938, for instance, the Soviet rulers of Russia executed an average of 1,000 people per day; the tsarist regime they supplanted, which was often criticized as inhumane, executed less than 4,000 people for political crimes over an 85-year period.

Though Pipes appropriately spends much time discussing the Soviet Union, he also examines Communism's reception in the West and in developing countries. The book is a concise tour de force. As the cold war fades into history, it is critical not to forget the monstrous legacy of Communism, whose horrible record Pipes lays out on these pages. This is a magnificent book, a wonderful primer on a topic whose importance is difficult to overstate. --John Miller

From Publishers Weekly

This opinionated introduction to communism would be better subtitled "requiem for a misguided ideology." Pipes (The Russian Revolution) focuses much of the book on his own field of specialty the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. The Harvard historian is at his best here, providing a thorough account of the ascendancy of the Russian party in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in accessible and at times eloquent prose: "Soviet totalitarianism thus grew out of Marxist seeds planted on the soil of tsarist patrimonialism." Part of the Modern Library's series on world history, the book details Soviet atrocities, emphasizing how Communist agricultural policies not only suppressed human rights but led to famines that killed millions of Soviet citizens. The sections on communism in other countries are much shorter and not as strong, particularly the discussion of Chile, in which Pipes fails to address the involvement of the United States in the 1973 coup that overthrew Socialist leader Salvador Allende. Throughout this volume, Pipes, a longtime Cold Warrior who served as Reagan's National Security Council adviser on Soviet and East European affairs, is on a mission to prove that communism's egalitarian impulses run contrary to human nature. Whether or not they agree with Pipes's views, students and general readers alike will benefit from this concise, insightful work. (Sept.)Forecast: The book is certain to be widely taught in its field and will be promoted in a brochure mailing to historians but a three-city author tour and series advertising in the New York Times Book Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Lingua Franca should help the book find a more general though learned readership as well.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library; 2001 Moder edition (September 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679640509
• ISBN-13: 978-0679640509
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #727,120 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Modern Library Chronicles Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Deserved Obituary, September 13, 2001

By	thewahlmighty (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

In a succint 160 pages, Richard Pipes aptly lays down a history of Communism which is meant to serve both as an introduction to and an obituary for this "utopia" envisioned by Karl Marx and others.

The telling quotes and the refreshingly logical progression (from its starting point in the books of philosophers to the bloody ocean of victims it left behind) make this book arguably one of the best ever written on this grim subject. Although I cannot speak for everyone, the skill that Pipes displays while grounding his conclusions in the facts as well as his ability to pick the quotes that best exemplify each leader, make this the best that I personally have ever read on Communism--and thus my rating of five stars.

To be frank, if Communism does survive after this, the book will only prove its point--that Communism, in theory as well as in practice, has a reckless disregard for both the facts of reality and for human life.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptional Introduction , October 21, 2007

By	Caesar M. Warrington (Lansdowne, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles) (Paperback)

For its size (160 pages, not including the notes and index), and considering that Polish-born, Harvard professor Richard Pipes once served as an adviser on Soviet and Eastern European affairs to the Reagan administration, this is an exceptional introduction to the history, theory and practice of communism.

Concise, written with clarity and authority coming from both scholarship and experience, COMMUNISM: A HISTORY traces the ideal of a classless, fully egalitarian society from its philosophical roots in ancient Greece to the present day: where, excepting the societal and economic basket cases that are Cuba and North Korea, or perhaps China and Vietnam (both of them nominally Marxist at best), the once dreaded communist systems are almost gone,

Pipes' work proposes to correct those who still hold to the belief that socialism/communism was inspired by good intentions, and only was corrupted--time and again--by the power hungry and the opportunists and sycophants who naturally followed along. For Pipes it's the collectivist and radical egalitarian intentions themselves that are essentially wrong. Such aspirations, and flawed historical interpretations that often nurture them, are, according to Pipes, antithetical to human nature and to humanity's well being. Noting Marx's theories of human social evolution in comparison with what we know about the individuality and acquisitiveness existing even in the most primitive human groups, Pipes' shows them to be without foundation. For him, calling Marx's "scientific socialism" a pseudo-science is too charitable, to say the least.

Pipes' proves strong when he delivers insight to the various fallacies within "scientific socialism." Contradicting itself almost from the start, it needed constantly to be revised and to adapt (Leninism, Trotskyism, Stalinism, Maoism, etc.) to rapidly changing social and economic circumstances. More importantly, he points out the inherent violence and terror built into communism. Before Stalin or even Lenin, communism's grim and bloody plan was born in Marx's belief of the necessity for proletarian dictatorship. Quite funny it is to read Pipes grudgingly acknowledge the predictions by 19th century anarchist thinkers for Marxism: they were the first to criticize the draconian tendencies of the ideology, foreseeing that once put into practice it would breed its own parasitical bureaucracy, leading ultimately to the worst form of tyranny.

There are, however, gaping omissions and rather perplexing claims made by Mr. Pipes. While I didn't expect to find much reference to figures such as Albania's Enver Hoxha, I did think there should have been something said about the Italian communist thinker Antonio Gramsci. I certainly expected to find more on Leon Trotsky, who defeated the White forces in the Russian Civil War, thereby ensuring the survival of the Bolshevik regime, and who at one time was Stalin's rival to succeed Lenin; surprisingly, he is treated with scant reference. Another area where this book suffers is with Pipes' writing on Marx's early influences. French proto-anarchist Pierre-Joseph ("Property is theft") Proudhon, a man who left a major impression throughout much of modern socialist ideology in general, receives no mention. Even more disturbing is the absence of Marx's attachment to the Young Hegelians. Yet two pages are devoted to Charles Darwin, where the author makes a clumsy attempt at drawing a direct line from Darwin to Marx. Considering that exaggerations and half-truths of Darwin's influence like this are being promoted by some Christian fundamentalists, one can't help but wonder if Pipes is doing a bit of pandering to his target audience.

That being said, this is overall excellent work, which should benefit anyone interested in 20th century communist movement's history and development.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing introduction to an important subject, January 11, 2002

By	Brian Considine (Mine Hill Dover, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

Communism was an amazing development in world history. A system of ideas took control of intellectuals and revolutionaries across the world, but in unindustrialized nations communism was able to achieve power and wrecked horrible suffering on those unlucky enough to be born within its grasp.

Richard Pipes does an excellent service by providing the reader with a concise history of Communism. Call it a 'Cliff Notes' if you will, yet it is brief and easy to follow.

Pipes spilts his book into three sections. The first details the history of communism from Marx to its rise and domination in Russie. The second is the reaction to communism and its influence on intellectual life in other industrialized nations. Finally Pipes explores communisms influence in the third world with an excellent examination of China and how Mao's style of communism contrasted with the USSR (which was caught between hoping to encourage communism abroad but unwilling to see communists abroad who achieved power drift from control by Moscow...result tension and hostility between Russia, China etc.).

While Communism has died, it is important that we remember its errors for two reasons. The first is so we do not repeat them, obviously. The second is so that we know where the modern world came from as we start our way into a new century.