A review by rickburner
Hammer & Tickle: A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes by Ben Lewis

2.0

A diverse cast of unlikely interviewees and, as promised on the tin, generous helpings of jokes give this oddball history of Soviet bloc communism a lot of potential and charm. Sadly, the unrelenting chauvinism of the author fatally poisons the project. He oozes with end-of-history unearned male swagger, utterly incapable of digesting the experiences and views of those who don't share his uncritical capitalist politics - including his girlfriend, of whom the author's verbal mistreatment make some of the lowest points of the book.