Communism: A History

by Richard Pipes

With astonishing authority and clarity, Richard Pipes has fused a lifetime’s scholarship into a single focused history of Communism, from its hopeful birth as a theory to its miserable death as a practice. At its heart, the book is a history of the Soviet Union, the most comprehensive reorganization of human society ever attempted by a nation-state. This is the story of how the agitation of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two mid-nineteenth-century European thinkers and writers, led to a great and terrible world religion that brought down a mighty empire, consumed the world in conflict, and left in its wake a devastation whose full costs can only now be tabulated.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Economics, Russia, Philosophy, Political Science

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1994

About the author

Born in Poland, Richard Pipes fled the country with his family when Germany invaded it in 1939. After reaching the United States a year later, Pipes began his education at Muskingum College, which was interrupted in 1943 when he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and sent to Cornell to study Russian. He completed his bachelor's degree at Cornell in 1946 and earned his doctorate at Harvard University four years later.

Pipes taught at Harvard from 1950 until his retirement in 1996, and was director of Harvard's Russian Research Center from 1968-1973. A campaigner for a tougher foreign policy towards the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in 1976, he led a group of analysts in a reassessment of Soviet foreign policy and military power. He served as director of Eastern European and Soviet affairs at the National Security Council from 1981 until 1983, after which he returned to Harvard, where he finished his career as Baird Professor Emeritus of History.

Reviews

[Mik Sabiers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some interesting facts and points, particularly at the start, but then it just turns into a tirade about why capitalism is good and communism is wrong, by the end I was not just angry but flabbergasted, especially about his positive reference to the Pinochet coup in Chile and how they delat with the Allende regime, I'm surprised the author has any credibility in academic circles by the one sided nature of this treatise. Only worth reading as a way of understanding the blinkered viewpoint of the right, but even as a know your enemy read it is too nice, I shall add notes to my copy and leave it for someone to pick up and read...

[Michael Gerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full of errors, written by another American who does not know what Communism is.

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book definitely has some interesting research, but I found that the thesis was not well proven overall. Pipes has an obvious anticommunist bent, and he has a way of distorting or "cherry-picking" facts to fit his ideas. By the end of the book, I was so turned off by his arguments that I will probably never read another of his books.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Pipes sets out to answer whether the failure of Communism "was due to human error or to flaws inherent in its very nature." To resolve this question, Pipes traces the history of Communism from its conceit, through its regimes in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and then to its repeated demise in those places. Then, in an excellent final chapter, Pipes annihilates both the practice and philosophy of Communism and gives a resounding answer to the book's original question.

Parting word goes to Pipes: "If it is ever revived, it will be defiance of history and with the certainty of yet another costly failure. Such action will border on madness, which has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

[Barry Smirnoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Primer on anti-communism

This right wing introduction to communism is not a balanced analysis. It relies on the authors view that humans are acquisitive by nature and the the socialist programs can not be carried out without coercion and conflict. None of socialism’s successes are mentioned. Millions were sacrificed for a system that is doomed for failure. Innovation is not possible. Human nature can not be adapted to create a better society. This is just bullshit!

[The Laughing Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read before Black Book of Communism

A clear headed disillusioned look at the cancer called communism / marxism. Im also glad he didnt forget to mention the similarities of it with its sister ideologies fascism and nazism.

[Alina · Rating 1 out of 5]

gonna rip every page and wipe my ass with it

[Esraa S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally, the book is a good overview of Communism history.
Pipes focused mainly on Russia's Lenin and Stalin time, a bit of Cuba, China, and Cambodia. However, he kept claiming how awful is communism in theory and practice and how great is capitalism, supporting his claim with the destruction of the Soviet Union instead of the destruction of capitalism, as Marx predicted. As well as, continuously mentioning the atrocities of communism without mentioning the atrocities of capitalism. Thus, If he wanted to make a comparison, the comparison is apparently biased.
I did not like how he covered Chile's Salvador Allende time, as he just claimed that democratic communism is infeasible as the reason of Allende removal and did not mention the U.S intervention in 9-11-1973 coup d'etat and how U.S installed Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

[Sage · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is AWFUL. For a far more balanced and significantly less ethnocentric view, read The Red Flag: Communism and the Making of the Modern World by David Priestland.

(No really. Pipes attacks the KGB but doesn't acknowledge the covert security services of any of the many other countries active in the Cold War. Also, there are numerous factual errors and misleading arguments in the Latin American section, especially concerning Nicaragua and Chile. And he repeatedly conflates examples separated by more than sixty years and then tries to claim they demonstrate a pattern, while refusing to admit to any other historio-political circumstances playing a role. This is a FANTASTIC example of terrible scholarship. I am appalled.)

[Chase Parsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concise 160 page book is quite simply the best book on the history of communism I have ever read. It is easy to read and explains the entire movement from Marx to 1991. To understand the 20th century this is a crucial topic to digest. Also I would like to mention that Pipes is really hard on Lenin. I used to hold Lenin to a higher standard than say a Stalin, but Pipes skillfully argues that Lenin laid all of the groundwork and was as ruthless as anyone. A great, great little book.

[fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. As a child of the cold war I grew up with Communism being shoved down our throats as the answer to everything, while the rest of us stupid people in the entire world saw the non-answer that it was. Even now Castro can't be praised enough. How much of a absolute failure does a idea have to be before it goes to the ash heap of history? I guess the entire Russian subcontinent, or Eastern Europe is not enough apparently.

[Lucky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I've always been so curious and have struggled to rap my mind around what Communism really meant, what life was/is like under "Communist" regimes, and how they came to power all over the world. This book answers a lot of questions I've had and fills in a lot of gaps in my understanding of it. Also, it is well written and easy to read. I'd enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who is as curious on this subject as myself.

[Catherine Fitzpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short book that you should give to every college student to counter all the Marxism-Leninism thrust on them.

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 1 out of 5]

I may have called Robert Conquest and Robert Service Cold War warriors, but they have nothing on Richard Pipes. The ten years after the fall of the Soviet Union seem not to have given the US government operative, Bilderberg speaker, and Harvard professor any perspective for this book. Instead, it reads like a document from the dankest propaganda days. It's not that Soviet regime didn't do bad things, but for Pipes it's all a demonic plot to derail humanity from its 'natural' state of capitalism (yes, he really says that). The early history is understandably weak as he is a Russian historian, and there is little interesting in the latter part either. The only original contribution in the book is the author's conspiracy theory that WWII was Stalin's plot from beginning to end, because communism couldn't survive without crisis. I think the value of the book today is mainly as a culture war document. Now that--somewhat surprisingly, I must admit--socialism is increasingly talked about in positive terms, especially in the US, Pipes' never-ending cold war narrative is soothing balm for the right. Just look at the reviews here.

Two stars for being a living memory of Cold War propaganda, and for the lessons in political rhetoric. Otherwise, serious students of communism are better off looking somewhere else. Luckily there are many options around. (e.g. Priestland, even Service's Comrades).

[Jon Beadle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible little read! I found the part on Maoism most curious; especially western intellectuals particular fascination with such a willing murderer.

[RyanJ C1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a great book that taught me about how communism was made. I love the amount of fact
and realism this book includes it has been really fun to read.

[Will McCartney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful history of the repeatedly catastrophic attempts to implement Marxism. Worth reading as part of a balanced shelf of political history books.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book about communism after serving my mission in Hungary and seeing the aftermath. It solidified my belief in the wickedness of the communist system. This book covered Lenin and Stalin in Russia, as well as a little of Mao Ze Dang in China, and Fidel Castro in Cuba. The focus was on Russia and Lenin and Stalin.

[sologdin · Rating 1 out of 5]

a gratuitous contribution by a lying CIA thug. attempts to argue that the commie system had no accomplishments and was a waste. text demonstrates numerous defects regarding doctrine and misleading usage of historical data, as usual for this author.

[Minh Nhật · Rating 1 out of 5]

phê bình marxism lẫn communism thì ko thiếu, nhưng cuốn này thiệt quá tệ, nhưng mà nó buồn cười là sách dở thì mình sẽ bỏ qua nhưng cũng đọc hết được cuốn này dù với cảm giác vô cùng ức chế

còn đây là bài phê bình của Lữ Phương
http://www.talawas.org/talaDB/showFil...

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Perfect for the reader with little or no knowledge of communism. Offers wonderful context for the major events of the last 100 years.

[Maxwell Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very biased.

[Diogenes the Dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one star reviews demonstrate the cognitive dissonance of communists. Do they actually think that communist regimes being murderous is a matter of opinion?

[Dylan Chuang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Communism: A History by Richard Pipes is a biased, unethical piece of writing. It covers the entire key points of communism, from Karl Marx to Vladimir Lenin to Stalin to Mao and Castro. It is historically accurate, and covers the main ideology of communism, from Marx's critique of capitalism in his volume Capital, Vol. 1: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, to Marxism-Leninism, and lastly, to Maoism. Richard Pipes also clearly describes the human flaws in communism and the mass murder committed by power-hungry leaders, such as Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro, and Sankara. But, Richard Pipes is an anti-communist way, and his writing style is like any other westernized stereotype. What about the human part of communism? The advanced political system in the Soviet Union? When the Soviet Union took ten years to industrialize as opposed to the monarch, democratic Europe? Richard Pipes just finds the bad parts of communism and leaves out the parts where communism has claimed victorious. He even goes on and mentions how the communist countries today rely on capitalism, but capitalist countries also rely on capitalism. Canada, America, Britain, Australia, and lots of other countries rely on leftist or communist values. This book is a must-read if you want to know how the West's perception of communism.

[Lurch · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very brief history of the USSR, the reception in the west, and brief mentionings of communism in the east. It summarizes the main criticisms of communism, and offers his explanation why the communist regimes of the past failed and the horrors it inflicted on people. His points are mostly well backed and he offers sources, except when he tries to argue against the overall philosophy of socialism and human nature. His arguments become weak in those respect. Obviously when you read the author's biography you will notice the anti-communist and anti-socialist orientation, as such is also this book. Generally he almost never considers the role of capitalism on people's life, be it to to the shortness of the book, or the authors own ideological orientation.
Nevertheless it is a quick and easy read, and worth if you want to engage yourself into a debate what the flaws of the communist regimes were, and what the flaws of orthodox marxist theory are. Of course this book does not offer a well rounded perspective on that.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative overview/review of one of the driving forces of the 20th Century that I realized I did not know about in nearly enough detail. Pipes lays out the rise and fall of the Big C, from idealism to oppression, and examines why it is a flawed concept at its core.

Here's a part I found particularly fitting for our current political climate: "Most...sympathizers were not oblivious to the odious aspects of Communist rule, but they rationalized them in various ways: by blaming extraneous causes, such as the legacy of tsarism and the hostility of the 'capitalist' West." (97)

And then there's this: popular estimates of the global number of Communism's victims is placed between 85 and 100 million. Staggering. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot--all madmen.

[Matheus Araujo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is so biased that from the middle of the book until the end I’ve started to question if any of the things that I didn’t have previous knowledge about were true. From blaming the communist party of the soviet union for the rise of Hitler to power, because it didn’t joined forces with the socialist party, to justifying Pinochet’s bloody dictatorship while complaining about the soviet union totalitarianism. If you’re actually looking for a book about the history of communism, this is not it. This is a collection of cherry-picked facts, 80% of them focused on Stalin. Got 2 stars instead of 1 because some of these facts were interesting (although I may still doubt that all of them are true).

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief (160 pages) but excellent primer on the history of Communism.

I found online criticisms of Pipes’ work, with allegations that he was a right wing propagandist. However, they attacked the man, and didn’t take to task what he wrote in his works or the facts he presented.

He was indeed a conservative, which is why those on the Left should read his books. Conservatives likewise should read “The Communist Manifesto”.

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, succinct work. Pipes presents a thorough summary of the philosophy and the practice of Communism, and finds it wanting.

[Steven Passmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously communism failed, but Jesus Christ this book is biased.