The End of the Line

by Christopher S. Wren

In a trenchant, perceptive report, New York Times foreign correspondent Wren measures the immense gap between rhetoric and reality in the Soviet Union and China, countries he traveled extensively for a decade. He draws parallels between the 100,000-member KGB and China's secret-police apparatus. In both countries, he observed xenophobic distrust of outsiders, an obsession with secrecy, severe shortages of consumer goods, a social welfare system that caters to the elite; brutal police batter confessions out of people and "re-education" is effected through forced labor. Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping, in Wren's estimate, share a fatal flaw: each wants a basically unaltered political system, with unavoidable reforms imposed from the top instead of emanating from below, as in Eastern Europe. This thoroughgoing critique is crucial reading for those seeking to gauge the future direction of the two Communist giants.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Doug McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book!

[Sam Brunsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Lotta big words

[Robharries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akin to Theodore Dalrymple's 'Utopia's Elsewhere', its a deep personal account of his time in the old Soviet Union and China from the 70s up until 1990.

It is not just an account of what he did and/or saw, Wren contextualises, comments and analyses the strange experiences he had during his time in both countries.

Of course the SU collapsed around the time of the books publication and China, while still ruled by the communist party is a different place. However account of these two places help us understand where Russia and China are today based on their recent history and culture.

Also it is a great snapshot of an increasingly bizarre (as time moves on) experiment in communism and it should not be forgotten. Accounts like this are much more useful than the macro histories of such nations and ideologies and through the everyday the true nature of the system is revealed to modern audiences.