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Article: The ash heap of history? Communism.(Seven Years that Changed the World, Comrades!)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 12, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Two illuminating new books on communism: the ideology's history and the legacy left by Mikhail Gorbachev
IS THERE any reason left to care about Soviet communism? Economists have little time for Marxism-Leninism, finding it inadequate both in theory and in practice. Governments of what were once Soviet territories have eagerly signed up to the class enemy's alliances, NATO and the European Union. Russia itself has moved on. Even China, ostensibly still a major communist power, chose its own path to markets and modernity and is now beating capitalists at their own game.
But two new books will convince doubters that spending time on the Soviet experience is still ...