As an unrepentant working class, self-taught Marxist-Leninist, and a staunch follower of the anti-revisionist line of Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin, I find myself in profound disagreement with Trotsky’s ‘theories’ and his contemporary adherents. Despite having previously delved into M. J. Olgin’s 1935 book, ‘Trotskyism: Counter-Revolution in Disguise, I felt compelled to revisit it, seeking a deeper understanding ofContinueContinue reading “Review: “Trotskyism: Counter-Revolution in Disguise” – M. J. Olgin”
Tag Archives: Soviet Union
Review: “Power, Networks and Violent Conflict in Central Asia: A Comparison of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan” – Idil Tunçer-Kılavuz
The Tajikistan Civil War (1992-1997) was one of the deadliest post-Soviet conflicts in the former USSR, killing tens of thousands and displacing thousands more. Much of the literature on the conflict has focused on three main factors: 1.) the economic crisis following independence and the consequent loss of subsidies from Moscow; 2.) the regional divisionContinueContinue reading “Review: “Power, Networks and Violent Conflict in Central Asia: A Comparison of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan” – Idil Tunçer-Kılavuz”
Review: “Soviets in Central Asia” – W. P. and Zelda Coates
“Soviets in Central Asia” by W. P. and Zelda Coates confirmed my expectation of a broad, Marxist overview of the socialist transformation of Russian Turkestan and the emirates of Bukhara and Khiva. I enjoy the Coates’ work on the USSR, although most people would criticize them for being too ‘Stalinist.’ While there is an elementContinueContinue reading “Review: “Soviets in Central Asia” – W. P. and Zelda Coates”
Review: “Soviet-Polish Relations, 1917-1921” – Piotr S. Wandycz
Piotr S. Wandycz examines Soviet-Polish relations in the period between the October Revolution of 1917 to the conclusion of the Soviet-Polish war with the signing of the Treaty of Riga in 1921. For a book published by Harvard University Press, Wandycz is surprisingly and refreshingly detailed and objective as he examines the diplomatic and militaryContinueContinue reading “Review: “Soviet-Polish Relations, 1917-1921” – Piotr S. Wandycz”
Review: “Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” – Devendra Kaushik
“Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” by Devendra Kaushik is a history of Central Asia since the Russian conquest in the mid-1800s. As a Marxist-Leninist from India who studied the national archives in Russia, India, and Uzbekistan, Kaushik’s perspective is very much of an outsider looking in. This outsiderContinueContinue reading “Review: “Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” – Devendra Kaushik”
Review: “Ethnocultural Processes and National Problems in the Modern World” – ed. I. R. Grigulevich
“Ethnocultural Processes and National Problems in the Modern World” is a collection of essays by Soviet ethnologists edited by I. R. Grigulevich about ethnic, racial, and national issues in both the USSR and other countries. This is an impressively comprehensive book. Part 1 of the book examines ethnocultural processes in the USSR and is dividedContinueContinue reading “Review: “Ethnocultural Processes and National Problems in the Modern World” – ed. I. R. Grigulevich”
Review: “The Battle of Stalingrad” – Marshal Vasili Ivanovich Chuikov, Supreme Commander of Soviet Land Forces
With an estimated 2 million casualties, the Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle in WWII and one of the deadliest battles in the history of warfare. The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat, and direct air raids on civilians, a reality that was brilliantly depicted in the 2013 Russian film Stalingrad. HitlerContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Battle of Stalingrad” – Marshal Vasili Ivanovich Chuikov, Supreme Commander of Soviet Land Forces”
Review: “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” – Misha Glenny
At more than 700 pages long, Misha Glenny’s “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” is a powerful and impressively comprehensive history of the Balkans. Beginning with the First Serbian Uprising against Ottoman rule in 1804, Glenny chronologically examines the historical origins of nationalism and the various nation-states in the Balkans, including Serbia,ContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” – Misha Glenny”
Review: “A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East” – Richard Foltz
Tajikistan is a country I am very interested in; I own and have read many books about Tajikistan. If I can save enough money, I plan to drive the Pamir Highway from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in a year or two, subject to COVID restrictions. I didn’t have very high expectations when I beganContinueContinue reading “Review: “A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East” – Richard Foltz”
Review: “History in the Making: Memoirs of WWII Diplomacy” – Valentin Berezhkov
In this book published by Progress Publishers, Valentin Berezhkov describes in incredible detail high-level diplomatic meetings between representatives of the USSR and representatives from Nazi Germany, Britain, and the U.S., as part of a comprehensive analysis of the politics of WWII. An engineer by profession, Berezhkov was transferred first to the Soviet embassy in BerlinContinueContinue reading “Review: “History in the Making: Memoirs of WWII Diplomacy” – Valentin Berezhkov”
Review: “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” – Asher Orkaby
Asher Orkaby’s “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” is a comprehensive analysis of the international politics and significance of the (North) Yemeni Civil War. The Yemeni Civil War began on September 26th, 1962, when the military forces of Abdullah al-Sallal shelled Muhammad al-Badr’s royal palace in Sana’aContinueContinue reading “Review: “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” – Asher Orkaby”
Review: “From Tsardom to the Stalin Constitution” – W. P. Coates and Zelda K. Coates
Published in the UK in 1938, “From Tsardom to the Stalin Constitution” by W. P. and Zelda K. Coates is an excellent history of the Soviet Union and the impressive achievements of the Soviet working-class under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. Considering the year this book was published it is difficult to imagine this bookContinueContinue reading “Review: “From Tsardom to the Stalin Constitution” – W. P. Coates and Zelda K. Coates”
Review: “The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus” – Stewart Parker
Belarus has made international headlines in 2020 with the Belarusian presidential election and accusations that the election was rigged in favour of Alexander Lukashenko, who has served as president of Belarus since 1994. Although this seemed like a U.S.-sponsored colour revolution to me (and I still think it is), I didn’t know enough about BelarusContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus” – Stewart Parker”
Review: “Soviet Lithuania on the Road to Prosperity” – Antanas Sneickus
“Soviet Lithuania on the Road to Prosperity” by Antanas Sneickus, who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 15 August 1940 to 22 January 1974, is a short little book about the history of Lithuania and its progressive socio-economic development under socialism. Since I know very little about Lithuanian history,ContinueContinue reading “Review: “Soviet Lithuania on the Road to Prosperity” – Antanas Sneickus”
Review: “Danger: NATO” – Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky
“Danger NATO” by Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky is a short Marxist-Leninist analysis of NATO published in the USSR. The book examines the history, establishment, and ideology of NATO, how the U.S. uses NATO to pressure Western European states to act as junior and subservient partners of U.S. imperialism against their own nationalContinueContinue reading “Review: “Danger: NATO” – Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky”
Review: “Modern Bulgaria: Problems and Tasks in Building an Advanced Socialist Society” – Todor Zhivkov
“Modern Bulgaria: Problems and Tasks in Building an Advanced Socialist Society” is an anthology of writings and speeches by the Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov, who served as General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1954-89. Most of the chapters are repetitive in style and content like so many other books published in the USSRContinueContinue reading “Review: “Modern Bulgaria: Problems and Tasks in Building an Advanced Socialist Society” – Todor Zhivkov”
Review: “Rosa Luxemburg: Her Life and Work” – Paul Frölich
I have a lot of mixed feelings about Paul Frölich’s famous biography of Rosa Luxemburg. A lot of what is written in the book strikes me as ultra-left, maybe even Trotskyist; and since I am not expert on Luxemburg’s life and her theories, I find it difficult to determine how much of the ultra-leftism, encompassingContinueContinue reading “Review: “Rosa Luxemburg: Her Life and Work” – Paul Frölich”
“General De Gaulle: His Life and Work” – Nikolai Molchanov
“General de Gaulle: His Life and Work” by Nikolai Molchanov is one of the BEST biographies I have ever read. Molchanov, a Soviet scholar, offers a Marxist-Leninist analysis of one of France’s most important leaders, General Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free France forces against Vichy France and Nazi Germany in WWII, ChairmanContinueContinue reading ““General De Gaulle: His Life and Work” – Nikolai Molchanov”
Review: “The Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty, and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia” – Christopher Kaplonski
Christopher Kaplonski’s “The Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty, and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia” is the third book I have read about socialist Mongolia. The book is not a comprehensive historical analysis of the struggle between Mongolian socialists and the feudal Buddhist establishment like its name might suggest. Rather, Kaplonski’s interest is in elaborating on anthropologicalContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty, and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia” – Christopher Kaplonski”
Review: “Leninism and the National Question” – P. N. Fedosyev, et. al.
“Leninism and the National Question” is undoubtedly the most challenging book I have read in 2021. At 540 pages long, it is also one of the largest Soviet Progress Publisher books I own, and it is definitely not a light, after work read. It took all my mental faculties to finish this book. TheContinueContinue reading “Review: “Leninism and the National Question” – P. N. Fedosyev, et. al.”
T. J. Petrowski 