History of Communism, 1991 - Present (Post-Soviet Russia) - History, Social, Cultural & Economic Aspects of Communism, Soviet History - Political Aspects, Russia (Federation) - History - Political Aspects, World History - General & Miscellaneous, Russia &
This book reproduces the text of lectures concerning the rise and fall of communism delivered in Oslo in 1993 on the invitation of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. Through these lectures, Richard Pipes seeks to explain in broad historical and philosophical terms why communism initially triumphed in Russia, and why it ultimately failed. Rather than stress, as is common in the existing literature, the political and economic causes of the collapse of communism in the USSR and Eastern Europe, the author employs anthropological categories to show why this outcome was inevitable even if its timing could not be foreseen. The concluding part of the book isolates elements common to communism and contemporary liberalism in sounding a warning about the future of the West.
Two lectures, delivered by Dr. Richard Pipes (History, Harvard U.) in May 1993 as part of the Norwegian Nobel InstituteOs Spring Lecture Series, discuss Russian communism in historical and philosophical terms rather than political and economic ones, concluding with a cautionary comparison of communism and contemporary Western liberalism. The Reagan administration's Soviet expert (1981-82), Pipes is a world authority on Russia. He describes himself as a conservative anarchist; Admittedly adverse to being ordered around, but respecting traditions and customs, and states that his lectures reflect this attitude. References. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
