I'm interested in the rise of communnism in Russia, its spread across the world, and its decline.
Specific questions of interest:
My understanding of russian communism seems to make it more of an oligarchy where a relatively small group of individuals had absoulte power. Is this accurate, and if so why/how is russian communism considered as a reason socialism is "bad"/not viable?
How did communism begin in russia (marxism,russian revolution)?
How did communism spread throught the world? Was it forced on weaker nations by the russian government or did the citizenry decide they wanted to adopt socialist policies?
In ammerica socialism seems to be viewed as a "evil" alternative to democracy, what were the major factors that led to this perception, and why wasn't the posibility of democratic socialism (as in the nordic model) ever considered?
If there is any good book/resource that goes into all of these topics I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you.
I've heard great things about Silvio Pons new book, The Global Revolution: A History of International Communism, 1917-1991. It is fairly expensive though. There are also other, cheaper books that are good as well. Each one of these addresses your questions, and they are all well-written.
Archie Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism
David Priestland, The Red Flag: A History of Communism
Robert Service, Comrades! A History of World Communism
Von Laue, Theodore H. Why Lenin? Why Stalin? : A Reappraisal of the Russian Revolution, 1900-1930. 1st ed. Critical Periods of History. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1964.
Edit: - A critique of Stalinism, Milovan Djilas: The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System
Geoffrey Hosking provides a brilliant historical analysis of the rise and fall of the Soviet Union in his book The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from with. It's a very balanced work and reads very easily. Also! I highly recommend this book: John Scott's, Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia's City of Steel It is absolutely fascinating. John Scott was a college student in the 1920s who decided to leave the US, train as a welder, and emigrate to the USSR where he lived for close to 20 years, helping build furnaces in Magnitogorsk; the "Magnetic City" and the jewel in Stalin's industrial crown. It is an amazing view into the life of the Soviet worker and really captures the triumphs and tragedies of Stalin's quest to "Build Socialism" in the USSR.