Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader

Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles) Reprint Edition

by
Richard Pipes (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Richard Pipes Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Richard Pipes (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 102 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0812968644
ISBN-10: 0812968646
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$5.82 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$11.37 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
More Buying Choices
53 New from $2.46 44 Used from $0.99
97 used & new from $0.99
See All Buying Options
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Prime Student Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

Wiley Summer Savings Event.
Wiley Summer Savings Event.
Save up to 40% during Wiley's Summer Savings Event. Learn more.
$11.37 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
click to open popover

Frequently Bought Together

  • Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
  • +
  • Eugenics and Other Evils
  • +
  • Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
Total price: $30.25
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Eugenics and Other Evils
    Gilbert Keith…
    4.5 out of 5 stars 45
    Paperback
    $7.00 Prime
  2. Ideas Have Consequences: Expanded Edition
    Richard M. Weaver
    4.4 out of 5 stars 65
    Paperback
    $12.03 Prime
  3. A Concise History of the Russian Revolution
    Richard Pipes
    4.0 out of 5 stars 46
    Paperback
    $10.68 Prime
  4. Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010
    Charles Murray
    4.1 out of 5 stars 435
    Paperback
    $11.88 Prime
  5. Architects of the Culture of Death
    Donald De Marco
    4.3 out of 5 stars 43
    Paperback
    $14.41 Prime
  6. The Red Flag: A History of Communism
    David Priestland
    4.3 out of 5 stars 15
    Paperback
    $13.16 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Series: Modern Library Chronicles
  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Modern Library; Reprint edition (August 5, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812968646
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812968644
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSimply excellent
By Anthony Bates on June 17, 2007
Format: Hardcover
I first read this fantastic little book back in 2003 and it never left my side throughout 4 years of university. That's my way of putting a disclaimer in that my review may be a little biased.

Over 161 pages Pipes charts the rise and fall of Communism from the very first intellectual musings by Plato and Aristole all the way through to John Locke and of course Karl Marx and Lennin. Pipes argues coherently and articulately coming to the conclusion that Communism failed not because of timing, or location, or implementation, but because the ideology of communism is fundamentally flawed. It wouldn't have mattered one jot if the time, place or manner of implementation changed (as the Neo-Marxist argue) because the ideology was so fundamentally anti-human that it would never have worked.

If you are interested in finding out how such a fundamentally flawed ideology could control the actions and reactions of the hundreds of millions of people and dictate the formation of the geo-political situation for 73 odd years then read this book - you won't regret it and it is quite simply a page turner that I found impossible to put down.
Comment 47 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsAn amazing introduction to an important subject
By Brian Considine on January 11, 2002
Format: Hardcover
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.
Comment 34 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA Well-Deserved Obituary
By thewahlmighty on September 13, 2001
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
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.
7 Comments 78 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 stars167 Compelling Pages
By Donald J. Boudreaux on April 4, 2002
Format: Hardcover
A few reviewers of this book are horrified that Richard Pipes straightforwardly blames communism for the oceans of blood spilled by Soviet, Chinese, Cuban, Cambodian, and other noted communists tyrants. One reviewer even suggests that American capitalism has produced horrors of comparable magnitude. Hmmm.... What might these depredations of capitalism be? While capitalism has not and will not produce heaven on earth - no system ever will - the negative effects of capitalism that agitate its detractors are hardly comparable to the wholesale slaughtering of human freedom and human life achieved by every single communist regime.
Pipes argues eloquently and without a hint of hysteria that communism by its nature breeds tyranny. It is not the only breeder of tyranny, of course, but it is certainly the gold medallist of tyrannical forces.
Pipes' humanity, his skill with words, and his deep knowledge of history make this little book a true gem.
3 Comments 76 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starssimply excellent
By Yalensian VINE VOICE on April 4, 2003
Format: Hardcover
This is the first book in the Modern Library Chronicles series I have read, and I finished it quite impressed. If others are half as well done, then I'm in for a real treat when I grab the next one. Of course, Richard Pipes' reputation precedes him, and he certainly adds much to this slim and excellent volume. His prose is crystal clear. His argument is both well presented and extremely well documented. This book, though short, is full of facts, all pointing to Pipes' predominant argument--that Communism, both a pseudoscience and pseudoreligion, is a flawed and contradictory system.
Pipes treats Communism as three "types": ideal, program, and regime. The ideal, that of full social equality, stretches back to Plato and was carried on, to varying degrees, by figures such as Thomas More, John Locke, and Helvetius. In the 1800s, Marx and Engels proposed their program--abolishing private property. And with Lenin and the Soviet Union, Communism as a regime comes into being. It is this third type that occupies most of the book.
Pipes explains the rise of Communism in Russia--why, for example, it took place there despite its not being industrialized. He then traces its institutionalization under Lenin and then Stalin, the terror it perpetuated, the lives it took. (And he makes the sometimes forgotten point that the Communist Party had MUCH to do with the rise to power of the Nazis in Germany.) His attentions then turn to attempts at Communism elsewhere--China and the Third World. Pipes' approach is somewhat centered on the Soviet Union, but this is fair, given that the USSR looms the largest in the story of Communism and given its role in attempting to promote revolution abroad.Read more ›
Comment 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsCommunism From 30,000 Feet

Highly readable and yet at the same time comprehensive, I thought this was a perfect synthesis of an exceedingly complicated and expansive topic. Read more

Published 2 months ago by TS
4.0 out of 5 starsGood, Clear, Introduction

This book presents the world of Communism with clarity and insight that unravels the dark, hidden, obtuse aspects of Communism. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Michael Lapelosa
4.0 out of 5 starsA must to read

Get moving to read it,, R Pipes is a great writer

Published 4 months ago by Gilles Gaudreau
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

just as promised

Published 5 months ago by J. Sherwood
5.0 out of 5 stars... truly wants to learn about what communism is really like.

For anyone who truly wants to learn about what communism is really like.

Published 6 months ago by Richard P Mullen
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Insight into the Ideology and Motivations

Very succinct summary of Communism by a renowned scholar. A lot of information packed into this little tome, which does not at the same time sound hurried. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Sean
5.0 out of 5 starsWell Written Text. Find out the Definition, Meaning and Explanation of...

Well Written Text. Find out the Definition, Meaning and Explanation of communism.
http://whatisdictionary.com/communism/

Published 8 months ago by Salah ElKashef
5.0 out of 5 stars... be a comprehensive history of the times and a great understanding...

I found it to be a comprehensive history of the times and a great understanding of how Communism took hold. It is interesting that many people in the U.S. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Dan Jantsch
5.0 out of 5 starsviva la revoulcion

the revolution waged by the proletariat is probably the best cause-oriented war that will soon eliminate class antagonisms by living in a classless society which promotes equality... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Cheryl Betts
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This book was an eye opener.

Published 18 months ago by Carla

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: Communism: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

Pages with Related Products. See and discover other items: russia