Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party - Hardcover

McAdams, A. James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691168946 ISBN 13: 9780691168944

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2017

Synopsis

The first comprehensive political history of the communist party

Vanguard of the Revolution is a sweeping history of one of the most significant political institutions of the modern world. The communist party was a revolutionary idea long before its supporters came to power. In this book, A. James McAdams argues that the rise and fall of communism can be understood only by taking into account the origins and evolution of this compelling idea. He shows how the leaders of parties in countries as diverse as the Soviet Union, China, Germany, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and North Korea adapted the original ideas of revolutionaries like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin to profoundly different social and cultural settings.

Taking readers from the drafting of The Communist Manifesto in the 1840s to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, McAdams describes the decisive role played by individual rulers in the success of their respective parties―men like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Fidel Castro. He demonstrates how these personalities drew on vying conceptions of the party’s functions to mesmerize their followers, mobilize their populations, and transform their societies. He also shows how many of these figures abused these ideas to justify incomprehensible acts of inhumanity. McAdams explains why communist parties lasted as long as they did, and why they either disappeared or ceased to be meaningful institutions by the close of the twentieth century.

The first comprehensive political history of the communist party, Vanguard of the Revolution is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand world communism and the captivating idea that gave it life.

About this title

About the Author

A. James McAdams is the William M. Scholl Professor of International Affairs and director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His many books include Judging the Past in Unified Germany and Germany Divided: From the Wall to Reunification (Princeton). He lives in South Bend, Indiana.

From the Back Cover

"A highly informed and beautifully written history of the rise and decline of world communism - and of the theory and practice of the 'leading role of the party.' Vanguard of the Revolution is ideal for students and general readers alike."--George Breslauer, University of California, Berkeley

"Vanguard of the Revolution is a brilliant overview of communism from A to Z, from Lenin to Xi Jinping. McAdams not only provides a fascinating and detailed history of the evolution of communism among its most prominent practitioners, he shows us why so many have fought and died for it despite the ideological persecution and economic disaster wrought in its name. A terrific read."--Lowell Dittmer, University of California, Berkeley

"This is a very welcome and engaging book that traces the history of the communist party from Karl Marx to the lowering of the red flag over the Kremlin in 1991. McAdams knows his stuff and is an excellent analyst."--Norman M. Naimark, author of Stalin's Genocides

"Beautifully written, convincingly argued, and absolutely stunning in its historical sweep. McAdams has produced a volume that will be savored by a very wide readership in the years ahead."--Jeffrey Kopstein, author of The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945-1989

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691168946
• ISBN 13: 9780691168944
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 600