The May 10th edition of The Economist has a review (“The Ash Heap of History?“) of new books by Robert Service (Comrades! A History of World Communism) and Archie Brown (Seven Years that Changed the World: Perestroika in Perspective). The reviewer is not too crazy about Brown’s book, though notes that its study of the Gorbachev era is crucial for understanding Russia today. Service’s book comes off better:
With this volume he has produced one of the best-ever studies of his subject, even if he is much stronger on Russia than on other countries. Eschewing the usual convoluted language of Marxist debates, he provides a gripping account of communism’s intellectual origins, pedigree and impact. Concluding that Marx and his followers “were not the fundamental rethinkers of the contemporary world”—he accords that honour to Albert Einstein, Max Weber and others—Mr Service turns from ideas to their practical application.
More generally, the review argues that the end of the Cold War does not mean that studies of the Soviet Union and Communism can go by the wayside – studying the history of Communism has much to teach the world today.
