"Tracing its roots to the ancient world, this fascinating global history of communism is contextualised within the current political climate, and the stagnation of Western democracies."
In his “Instead of an Introduction” to Reds: A Global History of Communism, Paul Mason sets out why studying the history of communism is urgently necessary. Firstly, “the most successful economy in the world is communist...For that reason alone, we should stop treating the history of communism as a finished episode”. Secondly, “capitalism is in trouble and liberal democracy is imploding...Faced with a crisis on this scale in the 1930s, millions of people put their faith in communism for a simple reason: every other alternative to fascism failed”.
A sense of this contextual urgency underpins the entire work as Mason presents a history of communism that’s thorough, and informed by his personal ideology: “If, like me, you seek a different future – a sustainable, egalitarian, technologically rich and democratic society centred on universal values – then understanding what communism was, why millions of people embraced it and why it failed is more than an academic exercise. It is our best guarantee that it does not return”.
Details on the first incarnations of communism are especially illuminating, with Mason sharing how Plato’s fictional Kallipolis (Beautiful City) set out the philosopher’s ideas for a communal utopia. Tracing the emergence of Communism as a distinct political ideology to key questions around social justice (including what use is freedom to the poor? And what use is legal equality when wealth inequalities are increasing?), he also unpacks the significance of three revolutions (the American, the French, and the Haitian) before relating how early communist experiments morphed into brutal totalitarianism.
Exploring a powerful question in the final chapter (“2049: Is the Future Communist? The Chinese Superpower and Capitalist Failure”), Reds is thoroughly thought-provoking and readable, and comes recommended for readers who have a keen interest in global history and contemporary politics — its scope is huge, and its arguments impactful.
Reds tells the global history of communism, going beyond the turmoil of the 20th century, and exploring communist ideas, movements, and regimes. It starts in antiquity, not in 1917. It centres not just on the obvious leaders and thinkers but asks how the idealism of millions of working-class activists could lead to their acquiescence in mass murder, repression and social atomisation. A fact whose legacy - unfortunately - is alive and kicking in both Russia and China today.
| Primary Genre | History |
| Other Genres: |
Reds tells the global history of communism, going beyond the turmoil of the 20th century, and exploring communist ideas, movements, and regimes. It starts in antiquity, not in 1917.
Reds features in the following genres: History, Political ideologies and movements, History, Society and Social Sciences, Politics and government, Political ideologies and movements, History and Archaeology
Hardback. £27.00, down from the £30.00 cover price. In Stock.
Reds was written by Paul Mason and published by Apollo an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Reds has 608 pages
£27.00, reduced from £30.00. In Stock.
