The Rise and Fall of Communism (Kindle Edition)

by Archie Brown (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Brown's] account is studded with delightfully pertinent and pithy personal observations and anecdotes...It is easy to be polemical about communism. Mr. Brown strives to be fair-minded...As a single-volume account of mankind's biggest mistake, Mr. Brown's book is hard to beat." (The Economist )

"Condensed with information that is both well-researched and well-placed within textbook history, [Brown's] book is a rewarding read. It is an important book for the time-a sober reflection on the physical, objective results of ideological thought." (Sacramento Book Review )

"Historical writing and political analysis of the highest order." (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

"A sweeping, engrossing history. . . . Brown does a fine job of describing the social and political conditions that led people to embrace communism. And how, when the charms of the system wore off, these people found themselves ensnared by a totalitarianism that gave them no way to opt out." (Dallas Morning News )

"Ranging wisely and lucidly across the decades and around the world, this is a splendid book." (William Taubman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era )

"A riveting and magisterial work." (Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and author of THE GREAT EXPERIMENT )

"This book requires and deserves space on all important book shelves for decades to come." (Gary Hart, United States Senator (Ret.) )

"Readable and judicious...both controversial and commonsensical.'The Rise and Fall of Communism' is a work of considerable delicacy and nuance." (Literary Review (UK) )

"Readable and judicious...both controversial and commonsensical.'The Rise and Fall of Communism' is a work of considerable delicacy and nuance." (Salon.com )

Product Description

From the internationally acclaimed Oxford authority on Communism comes a definitive history that examines the origins of the ideology, its development in different nations, its collapse in many of those countries following perestroika, and its current incarnations around the globe. The Rise and Fall of Communism explores how and why Communists came to power; how they were able, in a variety of countries on different continents, to hold on to power for so long; and what brought about the downfall of so many Communist systems. For this comprehensive and illuminating work, Brown draws on more than forty years of research and on a wealth of new sources. Tracing the story of Communism from its nineteenth-century roots, Brown explains both its expansion and its decline in the twentieth century. Even today, although Communism has been widely discredited in the West, more than a fifth of humanity still lives under its rule.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 889 KB
• Print Length: 736 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
• Publisher: HarperCollins (June 9, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002BXH5XE
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,324 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep perspective, June 10, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Communism (Hardcover)

Mr. Brown puts together a deep perspective on the Communist phenomena touching on the writings of Marx and Engles in the nineteenth century and those who were precursors of the "founding fathers"; loosely like Locke's influence on America's "Founding Fathers". Obviously the prime focus is in the twentieth century but also somewhat in this past decade. Although the author looks at the final five survivors of Communism (Cuba, China, North Korea, Viet Nam and Laos) and their attempts for footholds in Africa and the Caribbean, the tome mostly focuses on the Soviet Union and the Eastern Europe Bloc behind the Iron Curtain, which Mr. Brown admits has been his major area of study. The insight into the Gorbachev-Yeltsin transition period is especially powerful and enlightening as Mr. Brown insists that Gorbachev's reforms led to unintended consequences for the party and the empire. In every case except for the rather short Prague Spring, Trotsky's theory of the party substituting for the workers always led to harsh dictatorships and usually to internal power struggles especially when change at the top occurred. Well written throughout the large volume, the conclusions are profound based on solid arguments; for instance the surviving nations all claim the purest form of communism, as each governs differently and that the utopian socialist workers' state has never been attained. However, once again it is the fall of the Iron Curtain that is the most insightful section of a fascinating look at THE RISE AND FALL OF COMMUNISM.

Harriet Klausner

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Re-Reading History 20 Years After the Fall, June 17, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Communism (Hardcover)

November 9, 2009 signifies the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; for this day, Archie Brown has given us an in-depth account of "Communist" history--from before Marx and Engels to the present day--through decades of research and two years of writing. As we live in a period in which the "final collapse of Capitalism" looms as a possible threat and sales of //The Communist Manifesto// and //Das Kapital// are on the rise on one end of the spectrum, along with Ayn Rand's //Atlas Shrugged// in opposition, Brown has given us a valuable look at how the "last" revolutionary experiment failed (for the majority).

The book itself reads simply as a narrative, condensed with information that is both well-researched and well-placed within the structure of history. At times, information on the inner-workings of governments overwhelm the larger picture, focusing instead on the intricate and subjective workings of individuals, but this fails to undermine the work in the long run. Well-paced, intricate without falling into over-complexity, and lined with enough humanity to raise it from the drab floor of textbook history, the book is a rewarding read. It is an important book for the time--a sober reflection on the physical, objective results of ideological thought. However, as a critique of Communist ideology itself, the book does very little; this book should not be read as a final answer to the political system (the "You see, it doesn't work, so let's stick with ours" mentality) but as a look at the simplicity of final reality. It is another reminder that there is always a terrible barrier between the written utopia of our words and the actualized revolution of our actions.

Reviewed by
Dylan Popowicz

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, September 28, 2009

By	Galina Baron (Toronto, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Communism (Hardcover)

This is an excellent text on the history and political science of Communism. The text is suitable for novices and for scholars of Communism. Brown describes the history of Communism from its roots to the modern day events in an interesting and nicely written style.