Russia, China, and the West: A Contemporary Chronicle, 1953-1966

by Isaac Deutscher

Genres: History

hardcover

First published September 30, 1970

About the author

Isaac Deutscher was a Polish-born Jewish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs. His three-volume biography of Trotsky, in particular, was highly influential among the British New Left.

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issac Deutscher is always vital, and it's a tribute to his genius that these articles on post-Stalin Russia, Maoist China, their relationship to each other, and to the West, still rings true. The pursuit of the chimera of socialism in one country was bound to lead to capitalism in one country and getting the best trade deal with the Western capitalist powers. In this, Maoism did not differ significantly from Stalinism but was simply a continuation of Soviet policy. China and Russia would, Deutscher predicted, perpetually dance with one another, neither forging an alliance or letting go. China and Russia have not changed and Deutscher must be laughing in his grave.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Given it was published more than 50 years ago, the book has dated, but still a few snippets I found interesting such as the relationship between the Soviet Union and China where they were distrustful of each other and the Soviet Union was providing aid to China up until the 1960s.