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A review by jdintr
Hammer And Tickle: A History Of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes by Ben Lewis
4.0
As a German teacher, I teach a little history along with der/die/das. I'm always challenged when it comes to teaching teens about East Germany and all that Communism entailed. It was an enemy that was self-evident to me when I was growing up. To them, it's ancient history.
Last year, I inserted some East German jokes into my lecture about the Berlin Wall. A month or so later, I found this book. I loved it.
This is a history book, make no doubt. Lewis organizes the monologue chronologically, moving from the Russian Revolution through Putin over the course of the book. There are chapters about most Soviet satellites, too (I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel to learn about southern European states like Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria).
It kept my interest, and I laughed at most of the jokes. As Lewis ultimately learns, the jokes aren't "Communist" any more than pizza is American. They're timeless. But they were applied in a timely fashion, and they maintain the Zeitgeist of the day far better than most boring histories could do.
If I could prove that he was able to hold on to his East German girlfriend after all of this, I'd raise my rating to five stars.
Last year, I inserted some East German jokes into my lecture about the Berlin Wall. A month or so later, I found this book. I loved it.
This is a history book, make no doubt. Lewis organizes the monologue chronologically, moving from the Russian Revolution through Putin over the course of the book. There are chapters about most Soviet satellites, too (I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel to learn about southern European states like Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria).
It kept my interest, and I laughed at most of the jokes. As Lewis ultimately learns, the jokes aren't "Communist" any more than pizza is American. They're timeless. But they were applied in a timely fashion, and they maintain the Zeitgeist of the day far better than most boring histories could do.
If I could prove that he was able to hold on to his East German girlfriend after all of this, I'd raise my rating to five stars.