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Title: Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism (SOCIETIES AND CULTURE IN EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE) by Vladimir Tismaneanu ISBN: 0-520-23747-1 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A stunning tour de force on political pathology and dystopia
Comment: After "Stalinism for All Seasons" it must be truly depressing to consider writing books of political sociology on the topic of the communist grand narrative. This is not only because Tismaneanu's opus, the outcome of a lifelong fascination with the topic, is so well-stocked with quality historical data (his archival research, and access to unique resources can hardly be replicated), but also because the author is a genuine maestro of both analytical insight and of a captivating writing style.
It is astonishing how he managed to strike the right balance between a sociological-political excursus of great analytical accuracy with a novel-like narrative that stretches over almost a century and whose charm ruins your work agenda for several days.
Although the book's focus is the case of the pariah Romanian Communist Party, Tismaneanu immerses this case in the wider phenomenon of world communism. The reader is stunned to discover, en premiere, the constitution of informal transnational party networks and narratives that spanned from Vietnam to Greece, and Romania. Particularly fascinating are Tismaneanu's foray into mechanisms of Leninist and Stalinist manipulation of the (rather excessively)romanticized world communism" of the 20s and 30s, as well as his treatment of the role of memory, charisma, nationalism and aesthetics in the ascension, ossification and in the decay of the party.
We have access to the operationalization of general issues of interest for political scientists such as puzzling hybridizations of mechanisms for political power conquest and maintenance, the crucial role of personalities (that escapes facile research designs accomodation), how resources are distributed and conflits are settled in opaque political machines.
For those interested in how birth pathologies impact the subsequent development of radical political projects that end up reaching the lands of dystopia, this read is undoubtedly set to be on list of classics.
Rating: 5
Summary: Briefly ¿ this multi-layer book is a masterpiece ...
Comment: Briefly - this multi-layer book is a masterpiece of modern political science. This history of Romanian Communism is one particular case speaking crystal-clear about global Communism . Due to Vladimir Tismaneanu and his history of Romanian Communism we have an accurate, a splendid x-ray of Communism in the world.
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More than that this book is as a wonderful political novel - written by Vladimir Tismaneanu with genius and, believe me, plenty of fine, ironical humor.
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Therefore, reading this work, you can easily re-make historically and politically the whole nightmare of the Communist era, in Romania, and in Europe, and world-wide as well. Yes - a tragic nightmare. A disaster.
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Vladimir Tismaneanu presents to us, with knowledge and skills of a master in laser-surgery, the anatomy and the functions of this Monster , Communism - alas ! somehow still alive . His lesson is a fundamental lesson about humankind's fatal errors and disasters ... which we do not have the right to repeat and re-live. At least, because you have to admit this terrible reality: nazism = communism = Islamic terrorism. At last but not at least, considering this irrefutable truth - I warmly recommend you the lesson of Vladimir Tismaneanu, his work as a unique book of our modern times. A healing book !
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And, for this lesson, we definitely have to be grateful, from the bottom of our hearts, to Vladimir Tismaneanu - who is practically the genuine creator of the modern school of Romanian political science.
Rating: 5
Summary: seminal work on Romanian communism
Comment: Professor Tismaneanu, one of the sharpest analysts in the field of Eastern European politics, has written what is no doubt the definitive comprehensive study of the Romanian Communist Party. Brilliantly written and painstakingly researched over many years, the work will be appreciated by anybody interested in Eastern European politics or the stalinist system and its various deviations.
A solid political science work, the prose is lively and the entire work, complete with the cast of characters at the end, reminds me more of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury than other blander political analyses.
A superb book.
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Title: Between Past and Future: The Revolutions of 1989 and Their Aftermath by Sorin Antohi, Vladimir Tismaneanu ISBN: 9639116718 Publisher: Central European University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: Ana Pauker: The Rise and Fall of a Jewish Communist by Robert Levy ISBN: 0520223950 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 05 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Hooligan's Return: A Memoir by Norman Manea, Angela Jianu ISBN: 0374282560 Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Enlightenment Against Empire by Sankar Muthu ISBN: 0691115176 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Surprise, Security, and the American Experience (The Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures on American Civilization and gOvernment) by John Lewis Gaddis ISBN: 0674011740 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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