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Published Jun 2009
736 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
Published to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — a definitive and ground-breaking account of the revolutionary ideology that changed the modern world.
The inexorable rise of Communism was the most momentous political phenomenon of the first half of the twentieth century. Its demise in Europe and its decline elsewhere have produced the most profound political changes of the last few decades. In this illuminating book, based on forty years of study and a wealth of new sources, Archie Brown provides a comprehensive history as well as an original and highly readable analysis of an ideology that has shaped the world and still rules over a fifth of humanity.
A compelling new work from an internationally renowned specialist, The Rise and Fall of Communism promises to be the definitive study of the most remarkable political and human story of our times.
"A seminal work from a distinguished scholar; highly recommended." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. Historical writing and political analysis of the highest order." - Kirkus Reviews
"Brown’s scholarly, well-paced and critical overview contributes brilliantly to a reasoned reassessment. It took two years to write, but decades to compose as Brown, now professor emeritus of politics at Oxford, gestated a lifetime of research, personal experience and journalistic reportage." - The Sunday Times (UK)
"Archie Brown's monumental history of communism provides a powerful antidote to any illusions that Marxist/Leninist ideas offer a better alternative now than they did in the past. Brown – a noted scholar on the post-war Soviet Union – is no crude red-baiter. He has sympathy with the idealism of the founders of the socialist faith and his chapters on what early communists really believed are brilliantly succinct." - The Scotsman (UK)
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Archie Brown is a British political scientist and historian. He is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University and Emeritus Fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford. A Fellow of the British Academy since 1991, Professor Brown was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. He has written widely on Soviet and Communist politics, the Cold War, and political leadership.
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