Rise And Fall: An Insider's Memoir of Revolution Betrayed―From Tito's Circle to Prison

by Milovan Djilas, John Fiske Loud (Translation)

In the aftermath of the partisan victory that gave the Communists control of Yugoslavia in 1944, Djilas became one of Tito's closest aides. A decade later, he was expelled from the Central Committee and imprisoned for nine years. His inside account of a revolution gone awry is a painful, passionate book of bitter truths. Index.

Genres: History

436 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Milovan Đilas was a prolific political writer and former Yugoslav communist official remembered for his disillusionment with communism. Much of his work has been translated into English from Serbian. He was, above all, a literary artist. In several of his books, Djilas proclaimed himself a writer by vocation, and a politician only under the pressure of events.

Reviews

[Erik Graff]

Djilas was a bit of a hero to some of us in high school as he was one of those who represented the idealism of communism, so often betrayed when ostensibly communist movements come to power. This is one of, I believe, three volumes which effectively constitute his autobiography, this one, the last, covering the years 1944-84.

[Darius]

Solid, although bro is pretty self-absorbed - fair play is his memoir. And at times really goes into 'and here's a list of all the people I talked to in the year 1951...*proceeds to list a bunch of random people who aren't significant to overall narrative and then give a little spiel about each*.

And the expulsion from the party is couched in fairly vague terms. Again it's his life, and maybe the whole thing was pretty murky. But a more frank description would have hit harder. Just my 2c. Carry on...

[Andrew Weitzel]

Finally got around to finishing Djilas' trilogy of memoirs-- only took six years! This concluding volume chronicles his time in the newly-formed Yugoslav government, where he is a member of Tito's inner circle. At least until he gets turned on for having democratic opinions and chucked back into prison, as inevitably happens in Communist dictatorships. This is also the most narratively coherent of his memoirs. It was pretty good! 4/5

[TroTro]

Details about how the Yugoslav government worked.