Retroactive Justice: Prehistory of Post-Communism

by Istvan Rev

This unorthodox scholarly work dissects the ghosts of history in order to analyze how the past—both recent and distant—haunts posterity, and in what ways the present disfigures the image of times gone by. The book presents a novel history of Communism from the perspective of its collapse, and inspects the world beyond the Fall in the distorting mirror of its imagined prehistory. Using a series of strange and darkly ironic stories, the subsequent chapters provide a close exploration of some of the essential objects of historical study: the name, the date, the dead, the relic, the pantheon, the court, the underworld, and the underground. The tension between vast distances, both in space and time, that Retroactive Justice covers, and the extremely focused analyses, provide an unexpected experience of writing and rewriting, visioning and revisioning history.

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2005

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The adventures of dead bodies in 20th century Eastern Europe... Masterfully conceived, masterfully written...

[Katie Hanna]

I don't think I can accurately rate this book--I had to read it too quickly to really get a good sense of the writing quality, etc. Intriguing stuff, though, albeit very sad in parts.

Btw: This is my LAST. BOOK. OF. THE. SEMESTER. *throws confetti in the air* I'm done!!!!