Andrew's review
Comrades: A World History of Communism
by Robert Service
Andrew's review
Comrades: A World History of Communism by Robert Service
Andrew's review
rating:
bookshelves:
history-world
I picked up the hardcover edition of Comrades by chance from a display at the local library. I haven't studied Communism in depth since college, so I thought this survey would be a good way to re-introduce myself to the subject from the top down.
I enjoyed the first few chapters on pre-Marx communism, but the writing style soon bogged me down. Service's account is too cursory and clumsy to really engage the reader. At times, I feel like I am reading a wikipedia entry - there is a decent amount of basic information, but no real in-depth analysis or commentary. Basically, I read the first few chapters and collected a list of topics I want to research in greater depth - Robespierre, Marat, Babeuf, Hegel, John Wycliffe, the Anabaptist Munster Rebellion, the Peasant's War, the Levellers, Proudhon, Rosa Luxemburg, Gramsci, etc.
Now of course I understand that a comprehensive survey of world communism requires brevity and exclusion at times, but to invest the time to read 600+ pages, I ne...more
I enjoyed the first few chapters on pre-Marx communism, but the writing style soon bogged me down. Service's account is too cursory and clumsy to really engage the reader. At times, I feel like I am reading a wikipedia entry - there is a decent amount of basic information, but no real in-depth analysis or commentary. Basically, I read the first few chapters and collected a list of topics I want to research in greater depth - Robespierre, Marat, Babeuf, Hegel, John Wycliffe, the Anabaptist Munster Rebellion, the Peasant's War, the Levellers, Proudhon, Rosa Luxemburg, Gramsci, etc.
Now of course I understand that a comprehensive survey of world communism requires brevity and exclusion at times, but to invest the time to read 600+ pages, I ne...more
