What We Must Know about Communism

by Harry Allen Overstreet

So far as the problem of Communism is concerned, this point the authors feel certain, has long been reached and passed. The time has come when each of us is obligated to study the character of this new force which claims the human future as its own, and to convert such knowledge into awareness of what is at stake and what needs to be done.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

1 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1958

Reviews

[Khaled · Rating 2 out of 5]

Biased

[Eugene Slaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This highly readable and instructive history of Communism in the Soviet Union and in the United States written shortly after Khrushchev became the Soviet premier and more than thirty years before the Soviet Union's collapse, was ahead of its time in how accurately it depicts international Communism's agenda, objectives, and intrinsic tyranny.

While many Western intellectuals viewed Khrushchev's ascension to power after Stalin's death as a welcome change that may engender a new era of cooperation between the Communist Eastern and Capitalist Western blocs, the authors make it clear (if the Soviet invasion of Hungary hadn't already) that Khrushchev was a doctrinaire Leninist who embraced the state of "perpetual revolution" against the non-communist world. He would be neither conciliatory nor less dictatorial and oppressive, albeit less murderous than the far more paranoid Stalin.

Of course, scores of books on Soviet Communism have been written since 1957. Still, I recommend this book because it delves deeply into the roots of Soviet Communism and its role in influencing and guiding the American Communist Party.

Among the more interesting factoids in this book is how inextricable American Communism was from their Soviet overlords--they were completely beholden to every Soviet whim and ambition. For example, when Stalin and Hitler were allies in the 1930s, American Communists derided anti-Nazi Americans as apologists for capitalist imperialism, and aggressively lobbied against joining the allies in their war against Germany. But when Hitler broke his non-aggression pact with Stalin and invaded Russia, the American Communists immediately reversed their position and lobbied in favor of intervention.

[Amanda Stoeckmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book from 1958 about the origins, tactics, targets, and problems of the Communist faith, and why and how that faith would destroy American traditions and rights if given the chance.

Thirty years ago, I naively thought the threat of Communism had been squashed by President Reagan. But then 2020 happened, and this book now affirms my late suspicion that the Communists never stopped working to take over my country. It’s almost funny to be reading in this book the same buzzwords of Marxists and Communists in the 1950s that I am hearing ignorant Millennials and GenZers spouting today. Yes, the Commies have been busy. The destruction we now see in America is veritable proof.

One thing I love about this old book is that it’s obvious the authors did their research. Not only did they list nearly a hundred sources and suggestions for further reading, but they also backed up every single claim they made with hard evidence. It’s wonderful how they predicted any and all arguments I could have thought to make, and then destroyed those arguments with facts and reason.

The book contains long-forgotten quotes and descriptions of significant historical events (e.g., the Kronstadt massacre of 1921, the Hungarian students of 1956, the takeover of Korea and China during the World “Peace” Congress, and the “good old days” of America’s Great Depression), yet does so without working on the reader’s emotions. You really can’t ignore that the Communists have broken their promises repeatedly and that their actions have exposed their true intentions.

I appreciate that an entire chapter was devoted to the man responsible for the theory of Marxism, especially how he was a utopian and what makes a utopian different than a humanitarian. If more Americans today knew the kind of scumbag Karl Marx was, perhaps they would question his ideas.

Also, I must declare my love for how organized and well-written this book is! The writing flows naturally from one point to the next. In my copy, I underlined sentences every few pages and wrote in the margins things like “powerful thought,” “relatable,” and “beautiful idea,” as well as “Lenin’s a ruthless control freak,” “the Communists are lying backstabbers,” and “sounds like BLM 2020.” 😏


I’ll end my review with three quotes from the book:

“No capitalist or combination of capitalists has ever had a vestige of the power now held by the Marxist-Leninist one-Party State.”

“No matter what the Communists say, it is on the books of history that our Western way of life…has come closer than any other way thus far to delivering both political freedom and a high standard living. It is not chauvinism for us to underscore this fact. Not to underscore it would be morally irresponsible.”

“Freedom’s best ally is the normal human being’s wish to lead a normal life.”