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Utopias Elsewhere: Journeys in a Vanishing World Hardcover – August 27, 1991

4.8 out of 5 stars 9

Explores Cuba, North Korea, Albania, Romania, and Vietnam and provides a history showing the effects of the ideology of communism on each of them

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

soc sci Daniels, a British travel writer and psychiatrist, wanted "to experience the full flavor of Communist autocracy" before it became an endangered species. So in 1989 he visited Albania, North Korea, Romania, Vietnam, and Cuba. He coyly admits to being somewhat right of center politically, but insists that this bias does not influence his writing. However, his book is both patronizing and condescending. The reader will quickly tire of his cute jokes and ploys perpetrated on unsuspecting, innocent people. Most annoyingly, he quotes extensively from the writings of Marx and Lenin, among others; however, he never footnotes and rarely indicates the source of the citation, which is an easy way to quote out of context. Romania's revolution is mentioned in one sentence in a brief afterword. What could have been an insightful view into the remaining heart of Communism in 1989 turns out to be an early 1950s throwback to when "Commie pinkos" lurked behind every bush. Buy this only if you have patrons who are active in the John Birch Society.
- Paula M. Zieselman, Library Consul tant, New York
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Biting account of the outer squalor and inner landscape of totalitarianism found in Albania, North Korea, Romania, Vietnam, and Cuba; by British psychiatrist and travel-writer Daniels (Coups and Cocaine, 1986, etc.), who in 1989 visited Communist states still refusing the pull toward democracy then engulfing the Soviet sphere. Straight away, writing of Marx and Lenin, Daniels trumpets his anti-Communist stance: ``Below the surface of their compassion for the poor seethed the molten lava of their hatred, which they had not enough self-knowledge to realize.'' He then presents a scathing travelogue of five different styles of inhumanity and deceit used with little success by five small Communist states to bring about ``The New Man.'' Among the chillingly absurd scenes of subjection he describes is a visit to North Korea's ``Department Store No. 1,'' shown to visitors to testify to consumer-goods production; Daniels says that the thousands of ``shoppers'' riding the escalators and browsing are not permitted to buy any of the shoddy goods on display but actually are paid (with a pair of ugly brown socks) to pretend to shop. In Romania under the Ceausescus, he says, shortages of necessities were planned to ``keep people's minds strictly on bread and sausages, and divert their energies to procuring them so that there was no time or inclination left for subversion.'' Amid the gray concrete housing blocks of Albania (where, Daniels claims, an entire family is sent to the mines if a member escapes the country), he finds a pyramidal museum devoted to founding dictator Enver Hoxha's life--a life, we're told, that has been rewritten by the government to make mediocrity appear godlike. A hardly unbiased study of the banality of evil under authoritarian Communism. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown; First Edition (August 27, 1991)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 202 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0517585480
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0517585481
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 9

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Anthony Daniels
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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
I first read this book many years ago, and it remains one of the most indelible of my life. In particular, the chapter on Dalrymple's experiences in North Korea should be read by anyone who has ever been tempted by the siren call of utopian politics. This book should disabuse anyone of the false assertions that rights are granted by government and not by God, that human society can be perfected, and that leaders can be trusted with absolute power. A state based on these premises must always produce tyranny.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2015
I WISH THAT IN NOVEMBER 1998 ALL THE VENEZUELANS HAD READ THIS BOOK TO
HAVE A CLEAR IDEA OF THE NIGHTMARE THAT WAS TO COME,
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK SET IN 1989 AND 1990 WHEN THE IRON COURTAIN WAS
FALLING DOWN BUT STILL THERE WERE FIVE REMANENTS OF THIS EVIL IDEOLOGY,
THIS IS A GOOD COMPANION WITH ANIMAL FARM AND 1984, THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT
THIS IS THE ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE IN REAL, THE FIVE COUNTRIES ARE; ALBANIA,NORTH KOREA,
ROMANIA, VIETNAM, AND CUBA. ALTHOUGH THESE FIVE COUNTRIES ARE DIFFERENT IN CULTURE,GEOGRAPHY,HISTORY AND RELIGION THEY SHARE THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS : TYRANNY,REPRESSION,MURDER,UGLINESS, SCARCITY,DISTORTION OF HISTORY,LIES, VERY LOW STANDARTS OF LIVING ,LONG QUEUES, HATRED AND AMORALITY. THE AUTHOR DOES NOT ONLY CONDEMNS THESE REGIMES BUT ALSO THE WESTERN LIBERAL-LEFTIST WHO SUPPORT THEM, NOT GUIDED BY ANY SENSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE BUT BY SOCIAL RESENTMENT AND
HATRED, FOR INSTANCE WHEN A COMPANION OF THE AUTHOR MAKES THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE
HARRODS SHOPS IN LONDON WITH THE POTEMKIN SHOPPING CENTER IN PYONGANG,NORTH KOREA IT SOUNDS
REALLY NAUSEATING.
IN ROMANIA (SIX WEEKS BEFORE CEAUSESCU OVERTROWN),THE EVIL COUPLE NICOLAE AND ELENA CEASESCU,
WERE DOING A MAD SOCIAL ENGINEERING EXPERIMENTS BY LEVELLING ALL THE ANCIENTS TOWNS AND VILLAGES,
THE BACKBONE OF THE ROMANIAN NATION AND CULTURE, AND CREATED ELEPHANTINE CONCRETE BUILDINGS IN
ORDER TO HAVE A TOTAL CONTROL OF THE POPULATION ALL THIS AIDED BY THE SINESTER SECURITATE.
CUBA WAS THE LAST COUNTRY THAT THE AUTHOR VISITED, HE WAS UNSIMPATHETIC WITH THE CASTROS
(OTHERWISE I WOULD NOT PURCHASE THE BOOK), HE POINTED OUT ALL THE REPRESSION, MURDER, CENSORSHIP,
LONG QUEUES,THE DECAYING OF THE CITIES,THE IDEOLOGICAL RIGIDITY, AND THE LONG AND SENSELESS SPECHES
OF THE OLD MAD MAN.
STILL I DISAGREE WITH HIM IN MANY POINTS,HE REPEATED THE OLD CLICHES OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE,
I LIVE IN MIAMI AND I CAN SEE THAT THE CUBAN NEWCOMERS WHO WERE RAISED IN CUBA ARE ANYTHING
BUT EDUCATED OR CULT, THE HEALTH CARE IS A REAL DISASTER LACKING EVEN THE BASICS MOST OF THE
MEDICINES ARE BROUGHT BY THE EXILE COMMUNITY,HE SAID THAT THE CHILD ARE WELL FED, ACTUALLY FED ON WHAT?
WHEN THE SHELVES OF THE STORES ARE EMPTY ALSO AFTER THE CHILD REACH THE SIX YEARS OLD THERE IS NO
MORE MILK, THAT THE PEASANTS ARE BETTER OFF THAT IN THE REST OF THE CONTINENT, I WOULD RATHER BE A
PEASANT IN THE MOST UNDERDEVELOPED NON- COMMUNIST COUNTRY THAN IN COMMUNIST CUBA.
BUT WHAT REALLY IRATED ME WAS WHEN HE WENT TO THE PLAYA GIRON MUSEUM, THE AUTHOR MADE A
STATEMENT THAT THE REVOLUTIONARIES WERE GOOD AND IDEALIST AND THAT THE CAUSE OF THE COUNTER-
REVOLUTION WAS BAD, NOT ONLY THIS IS FALSE BUT THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE, THE REVOLUTIONARIES
FOUGHT FOR THE MOST IGNOBLE CAUSE, TO SUPPORT A MAD COMMUNIST TYRANNY, ON THE OTHER
HAND THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARIES, BY THE WAY I LOVE THIS LABEL, FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM
NOT ONLY OF CUBA BUT OF ALL LATIN AMERICA.
I REALLY FEEL APPALED BY THE PREJUDICE AND BIAS OF MANY AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS , EVEN
CONSERVATIVES LIKE THE BRITISH AUTHOR, AGAINST WHITE MIDDLE CLASS LATIN AMERICA; TO MAKE
A CASE IN POINT IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER RELATED TO VIETNAM THE AUTHOR POINTS THE CONTRAST
BETWEEN THE IDEALISM, FRUGALITY, AND HONESTY OF HO CHI MINH AND THE BANALITY, CORRUPTION,
AND OPORTUNISM OF THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE LEADERS, INMEDIATELY HOWEVER THE AUTHOR MADE
THE OBSERVATION THAT THE VIETNAMESE VOTED WITH THEIR FEET AND BOATS ( THE FEET AFTER 1954
WHEN THE RED VIETMINH OVERRAN THE FRENCH IN DIEM BIEN PHU, ALMOST A MILLION OF VIETNAMESE
HEADED SOUTH OF THE 17TH PARALELL, AND THE BOATS AFTER 1975 WHEN THE COMMUNIST ARMY OF
NORTH VIETNAM TOOK OVER SAIGON, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF VIETNAMESE ESCAPED IN
BOATS RISKING THEIR LIVES).IN THE END THE AUTHOR PREFERS WITH ALL THEIR SHORTCOMINGS PRE-1975
SOUTH VIETNAM.
ALSO THE AUTHOR POINTED OUT THE MISERY AND SQUALOR OF THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEE CAMPS IN
HONG KONG AND THAILAND AND THE FACT THAT THE VIETNAMESE PREFERED THEM THAN TO RETURN
BACK TO COMMUNIST VIETNAM.
BY CONTRAST THE AUTHOR FAILS TO POINT OUT THAT AFTER PLAYA GIRON (APRIL,17,1961) THERE WAS
AND EXODUS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CUBANS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE(MYSELF AND MY PARENTS
INCLUDED); PLEASE COME TO CALLE OCHO TO HAVE A CUBAN CAFECITO AND FIND OUT THE REAL TRUE
THAT THE ANTI- CASTRO BRIGADISTAS WERE TRULY PATRIOTS AND THAT LATER MANY OF THEM WENT
TO DIFFERENTS PARTS OF THE WORLD ; CONGO,VIETNAM, ANGOLA, AND CENTRAL AMERICA TO FIGHT
AGAINST TOTALITARIAN COMMUNISM.
I STRONGLY AGREE WITH THE CONCLUSION OF THE BOOK ABOUT THE EVIL NATURE OF COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIPS
AND THAT ALL THE TRAGEDIES AND DISASTERS WERE NOT THE PRODUCT OF A TYRANNY BY ITSELF BUT OF AN EVIL
IDEOLOGY DEDICATED TO THE ENSLAVEMENT OF HUMANKIND, SOME OF ITS ASPECTS LIKE THE LONG QUEUES
FOR FOOD AND OTHER BASICS GOODS WERE NOT BECAUSE OF THE INEFFICIENCES OF THE GOVERNMENTS BUT
SOMETHING COLD PLANNED IN ORDER TO HAVE A TIGHT CONTROL OF THE POPULATION, TO DISUADE THEM FOR
REBELLION, AND TO PUT ONES AGAINST THE OTHERS.
IN SPITE OF THE ABYSMAL FAILURE OF COMMUNISM , IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD THERE WILL BE MESSIANIC
LEADERS, SUPPORTED BY INTELLECTUALS FULL OF SOCIAL RESENMENT AND HATRED AND BY THE MASS OF
THE IGNORANT LOW CLASSES, WHO WILL TRY TO SEIZE POWER AND INSTALL A RED TYRANNY. THE AUTHOR FINISHES
IN PERU WITH THE SHINING PATH A SORT OF ANDEAN KHMER ROUGE,FORTUNATELLY TWO YEARS LATER
THEY WERE DEFEATED BY ALBERTO FUJIMORI (WHICH I STRONGLY SYMPATIZE WITH).
SEVEN YEARS LATER HUGO CHAVEZ ( A CASTROITE DISCIPLE) WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA, AS A
RESULT THE ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK CAME TO THIS UNFORTUNATE COUNTRY OF MINE.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2008
A glimpse of America when the political elites complete their work.

The bottom-feeders will get one soap and one toothpaste and one everything. The contents will be a uniform fecal brown and leak from the container.

If you require healthcare a clerk will dispense 2 aspirin and add your name to the list of people waiting to see an MD. Check back occasionally.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2000
Although everyone can find Anthony Daniels' wit entertaining and his observations keen, the overwhelming emotion created by this book is depression. How many people have spent their lives suffocating under awful regimes composed of banal torturers and Kafkaesque bureaucrats of no imagination ? (with apologies to Kafka) UTOPIAS ELSEWHERE is a series of articles written on five countries where Communism was about to disappear as a way of life, or at least, it seemed that way in 1989-90. In Albania and Romania, the author was probably among the last writers to attempt description of the obscene systems of government that held power there-totalitarian Balkan dictatorships with a Marxist frosting. In Vietnam, the government was in the process of change, and in the two last, North Korea and Cuba, the melting process has at last begun, albeit a decade later. Daniels, with an average of about two weeks' stay in each place, puts his finger precisely on what makes these places so awful, despite the fact that a lot of Western intellectuals, none of whom actually settled there, praised these places. [recall for example the Swedish couple, Myrdal and Kessle, and their unbelievably naive book, "Albania Defiant"] Daniels is able to describe the worst aspects of these so-called "worker paradises" very succinctly. Comments about everything, from ugly,grandiose architecture to triumphalist propaganda, hit the mark. The author often casts doubt on his own opinions, makes you consider whether he has been entirely objective or not. I thought he did not consider well enough the fate of millions of poor people trapped in horrible privations in many Third World countries. For such people, without electricity, clean water, schools, or health care---living maybe inside a cement pipe---under constant threat of petty harrassment or brutal intimidation from `local authorities', perhaps Cuba or Vietnam would not have seemed so terrible. Am I one of those dreaded "apologists" for tyrannical regimes of the left ? No, I've lived in India for five years. When it comes to North Korea or Hoxha's Albania, however, it is really debatable whether becoming a virtual automaton and slave of the state (and still starving) is still better than abject poverty and exploitation. Is life at all worth living under megalomaniacs like Kim Il-sung ? People may indeed think that they are already dead when they are still walking around. When Daniels describes an entire Potemkin department store in Pyongyang, fake customers and all, you have to agree with him that North Korea managed to "out-Orwell Orwell". Romania under Ceaucescu, which I saw some 11 years before Daniels, was, as he correctly describes it, a kleptocracy with fascist trappings and Marxist vocabulary ruled by a modern Dracula: nobody believed in anything. While Daniels noted the similarities of all five would-be utopias, he did not note their differences so clearly. If you're aware of these differences, they do appear in his writing, but he takes no pains to underline them. This is the major fault in a very interesting (but sad) book.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2015
Prompt delivery. Product as advertised.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2014
This book was published under a different title, that which escapes me, but it is still a worthwhile and fascinating account of his travels to places that few of us will ever go and I enjoyed it immensely. If you want to understand the mentality of the Library Journal and Kirkus reviewers that appear on the Amazon page, people that think objectivity is half way between Good and Evil, then read Daniels description (after buying the book) of some of his avowed communist traveling companions whose credulity knows no bounds.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014
I prefer to read ebooks (more on iBooks than on Kindle :-)). Dr. Anthony Daniels who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple. This book, published in the U.K. as "The Wilder Shores of Marx: Journeys in a Vanishing World (1991)", available on Kindle for $4. Happy reading. Check out other books by the same author.
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