The Rise and Fall of Communism, by Archie Brown

This is an extremely comprehensive survey of the history of communism from the mid-nineteenth century to the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. Archie Brown has devoted his scholarly life to analysing and evaluating the Communist world, and this book reflects the depth and breadth of knowledge that he has accumulated. The book is packed with detail, and has excellent geographical coverage, as well as wide-ranging insights into the reasons for the emergence, decline and eventual fall of most of the Communist states in Europe and Asia. He brings out both the essential features of Communist systems across the globe, but also deftly highlights the subtle (and at times not so subtle) differences. The book is divided into five parts. The first part examines the origins and development of communism, starting with a brief section on the forerunners of modern communism through thinkers such as Thomas More and Thomas Munzer, but focusing in the main on the ideas of Marx and Engels. It then moves on to discuss the emergence of the Communist movement and its appearance on the world scene with the revolution in Russia in 1917, and finishes by discussing how a communist system should be defined. Brown argues, convincingly I feel, that a communist system contains the following features: a monopoly of power for the Communist party, democratic centralism (an organisational feature of the internal workings of the party), non-capitalist ownership of the means of production, a command (not market) economy, a declared aim to build communism and finally the existence of, and sense of belonging to, an international Communist movement. Part Two deals with the rise of communism between 1941 and 1953, looking at the Second World War, the experiences of the take-over in Eastern Europe and China and concludes by examining the split between Stalin and Tito. Part Three examines the post-Stalin experience in the USSR and the gradual emergence of a plurality of Communist states in the wake of de-Stalinisation. Chapters in this part cover the Cuban experience under Castro, the revolts against Soviet rule in East Germany and Hungary, the evolution of Communist rule in China and the Prague Spring of 1968. It concludes by considering the Soviet Union under Brezhnev between 1964 and 1982. The fourth (and shortest) part explores what Brown terms ‘pluralizing pressures’—the movements for change in Poland and China and the challenge that the West provided to Communist rule. The final section is analytical and interpretative. Chapters here focus on the Gorbachev project and its failure, the break-up of the Soviet state and three deeper questions: why did communism last so long?, what caused the collapse of communism?, what is left of communism? The book also includes some excellent photographs, a map and a very useful glossary.

Capitalism · Communism · Communist state · Demise · Democracy · Economic history · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · History · Law · Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition