3 reviews for:

Towarzysze: Komunizm Od Początku Do Upadku: Historia Zbrodniczej Ideologii

Robert Service

3.74 AVERAGE

titus_hjelm's review against another edition

2.0

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Interesting. I thought Service's biographies of Lenin and Stalin were very good, putting the personalities in the context of their times, as an academic approach should. 'Trotsky' showed a more piquant Service that never missed an opportunity to remind the reader of his subject's penchant for terror and oppression, but the book was still convincing. 'Comrades', however, reads more like Margaret Thatcher's memoir than academic history. Communism is a 'malaise', communists nothing but 'thugs' and 'unconscious authoritarians' (how weak is that?!). About 3/4 of the book is about the USSR, sensibly considering Service's specialisation, but also in line with his approach where communists everywhere were basically just Moscow dupes. Yes, the cruelty of all revolutionary regimes is a historical fact, but there is little to no effort at understanding the appeal of communism, even if it was never a majority appeal. That said, the book is still a decent attempt at world history if you can get beyond the cold war rhetoric (not surprisingly, at the end he wholly buys into the 'clash of cultures' scenario, where Islam is the new enemy of the West). I'm very much hoping David Priestland's 'Red Flag' will offer a more balanced historical reading.

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

1.0

slow-paced

starship9's review against another edition

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This just wasn't an enjoyable read. It was just a series of event after event, with no exposition whatsoever. WHY did people come up with communism? Why did it spread?

Hell if I know.