Download PDF by David Priestland: The Red Flag: A History of Communism

By David Priestland

ISBN-10: 0802145124

ISBN-13: 9780802145123

Communism used to be essentially the most strong political and highbrow hobbies the area has ever visible. on the top in their impact, Communists managed greater than a 3rd of the earth’s floor. yet might be extra fantastic than its quick upward thrust and remarkable succeed in used to be Communism’s unexpected, devastating cave in in November of 1989. In The crimson Flag, Oxford professor David Priestland tells the epic tale of a circulate that has taken root in dozens of nations throughout 200 years, from its beginning after the French Revolution to its ideological adulthood in nineteenth-century Germany to its upward thrust to dominance (and next fall) within the 20th century. starting with the 1st glossy Communists within the age of Robespierre, Priestland examines the factors of thinkers and leaders together with Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Che Guevara, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Gorbachev, and so on. He additionally explores the event of what it intended to stay below Communism for its hundreds of thousands of matters. At a time while worldwide capitalism is in drawback and robust new political forces have arisen to confront Western democracy, The purple Flag is key interpreting if we're to use the teachings of the previous to navigating the future.

“The most sensible and the main obtainable one-volume background of communism now on hand . . . A far-reaching, vividly written account.” —Foreign Affairs

"Written in vigorous prose, this can be a wealthy, gratifying account of the main profitable utopian political flow in history." —Publishers Weekly

“Hugely bold and boldly completed, The pink Flag explores the roots, perversions, and manifold highbrow and geographic advancements of the main dynamic and disruptive political stream of recent instances, and David Priestland’s compelling narrative explains how even in discredit and defeat it completed a paradoxical luck through forcing severe reforms within the ranks of its capitalist foes.” —Martin Walker, writer of The chilly struggle: A History

“David Priestland deals an impressive account of the increase and fall of Communism within the 20th century on a world scale. He combines penetrating research with a robust experience of historic improvement, offering always sharp and unique insights. He writes in a classy and interesting type and in a spirit that's empathetic but consistently severe. using cultural heritage is principally leading edge and offers the reader with a vibrant feel of daily life in Communist societies. Altogether it is a outstanding publication that demanding situations stale and stereotypical methods of wondering the failed Communist experiment.” —Steve Smith, professor of historical past at ecu college Institute and writer of Revolution and the folk in Russia and China

“In position of demonologies and apologies, The pink Flag is a true background of contemporary Communism from the start to the current. it's a rare tale informed with sympathy and with an incisive use of important aspect. this can be a paintings of ambitious scholarship but in addition a really readable ebook. David Priestland makes a amazing use of novels, performs, and flicks to convey to lifestyles the occasions he describes and the states of brain that encouraged them.” —Gareth Stedman Jones, professor of political technological know-how on the collage of Cambridge

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F . S . R . In Georgia, as elsewhere, there is a chain of ambulatoria, polyclinics, and hospitals, general and special, all linked together. H e discussed with us at some length the education and training of doctors at the M e d i c a l Institute connected with the university, the education of midwives, instructed in Russian as w e l l as in their native languages, maternity and child care, welfare work, and in general the procedure in preventive work and in the treatment of patients. W e visited the Tuberculosis Institute, in a beautiful new building of Renaissance style, splendidly equipped.

N o w they have twenty large hospitals and sanatoria, w h i l e the hospitals for non-Tartars have increased in number. W e were met by the Commissar of Health, a huge fine-looking Tartar. H e took us to visit a large university clinic, including all the departments of medicine, in w h i c h students are taught special subjects. A b o u t 1,500 patients are treated daily at this clinic. I t has 70 beds for in-patients. W e got glimpses of other health institutions in the city, and w e carried away an impression of an Oriental city in the course of transition, w i t h signs of modernization already visible.

G . L . Kuchaidze. W e were oriented as to the char- Moscow to Georgia and the Crimea 43 acter of the city, the rapid mechanization of industry, the development of the university, w h i c h now has about 16,000 students, and the preventive and curative medical services. T h e Commissar pointed out that, except for adaptation to local circumstances, the plan for health w o r k was the same here as in the R . S . F . S . R . In Georgia, as elsewhere, there is a chain of ambulatoria, polyclinics, and hospitals, general and special, all linked together.

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The Red Flag: A History of Communism by David Priestland


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