A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism

by Silvio Pons (Editor), Robert Service (Editor)

Overview

An encyclopedic guide to 20th-century communism around the world

The first book of its kind to appear since the end of the Cold War, this indispensable reference provides encyclopedic coverage of communism and its impact throughout the world in the 20th century. With the opening of archives in former communist states, scholars have found new material that has expanded and sometimes altered the understanding of communism as an ideological and political force. A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism brings this scholarship to students, teachers, and scholars in related fields. In more than 400 concise entries, the book explains what communism was, the forms it took, and the enormous role it played in world history from the Russian Revolution through the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond.

• Examines the political, intellectual, and social influences of communism around the globe
• Features contributions from an international team of 160 scholars
• Includes more than 400 entries on major topics, such as:

Figures: Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Castro, Gorbachev

Events: Cold War, Prague Spring, Cultural Revolution, Sandinista Revolution

Ideas and concepts: Marxism-Leninism, cult of personality, labor

Organizations and movements: KGB, Comintern, Gulag, Khmer Rouge

Related topics: totalitarianism, nationalism, antifascism, anticommunism, McCarthyism

• Guides readers to further research through bibliographies, cross-references, and an index

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691154299
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	03/04/2012
Pages:	960
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Silvio Pons is professor of eastern European history at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and director of the Gramsci Institute Foundation in Rome. His books include The Soviet Union and Europe in the Cold War, 1943-1953 and Stalin and the Inevitable War, 1936-1941. Robert Service teaches Russian history at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Comrades! A History of World Communism and A History of Twentieth-Century Russia, as well as biographies of Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Acknowledgments xiii

List of Entries xv

List of Contributors xxvii

Acronyms and Abbreviations xxxiii

Entries 1

Index 895

What People are Saying About This

Ronald Grigor Suny

A valuable and comprehensive research asset that provides a useful place for students to start their investigations. Among the articles are some masterful reviews by major scholars.
— Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

Weitz

This important work helps bridge the gap between specialists' knowledge about communism and the general public's understanding—a gap that has only widened since the revolutions of 1989-1991. The dictionary's entries are informative and reasonable, everything one wants in a work such as this.
— Eric D. Weitz, University of Minnesota

From the Publisher

"This important work helps bridge the gap between specialists' knowledge about communism and the general public's understanding—a gap that has only widened since the revolutions of 1989-1991. The dictionary's entries are informative and reasonable, everything one wants in a work such as this."—Eric D. Weitz, University of Minnesota

"A valuable and comprehensive research asset that provides a useful place for students to start their investigations. Among the articles are some masterful reviews by major scholars."—Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Michigan

Editorial Reviews

"The new English translation of this work provides readers with a valuable overview of the world communist movement, in 400-plus entries, including not only the history of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and other communist states, but also of the various communist parties in Europe, the U.S., and the rest of the world. The volume's strengths lie in its strong coverage of European communism and its willingness to discuss the theoretical and philosophical ideas of its subjects."

Choice

[A] monumental, engrossing, truly comprehensive encyclopaedia of world communism.

International Affairs - Vladimir Tismaneanu

A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism promises to be immensely helpful to both teachers and students of world history. . . . [A] very powerful contribution to the relationship between aesthetics, culture, and fascism.

Journal of World History - Robert W. Strayer

This is a huge and useful enterprise. . . . Most of the leading figures of the history of communism, the communist parties, important institutions, ideological concepts, and political events are included in a well selected and concise form. This timely and important dictionary offers a broad historical and historiographical overview of twentieth century world communism. This is a significant step toward achieving the difficult task of encompassing communism as a historical phenomenon in its complexity.

European Legacy - IvanT. Berend

[T]he encyclopedia as a whole is a substantial and valuable project. The individual entries are almost all of high quality. The sustained effort at treating communism as a global movement means that Russian specialists will learn a great deal about less familiar places.

Russian Review - David R. Stone

[A] Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism is rather different. Its entries are mostly very thorough and informative, and if one or two are written in a language that reflects the jargon of its subject, that is a small price to pay for an approach usefully empathetic to its unempathetic protagonists.

National Interest - Mark Mazower

For socialists, this base of knowledge of the historical legacy of the most important revolutionary event in the 20th century, the Russian Revolution of 1917, is indispensable.

The Socialist WebZine - Lawrence Rockwood

All the major names and events are covered, and an impressive variety of concepts or objects receive serious attention, too. . . . [T]he high quality of the prose, the distinguished community of authors, and the imaginative variety of topics covered will make this a worthwhile reference.

H-Net Reviews - Padraic Kenney

An ideologically and internationally diverse lot of contributors manage to keep the tone analytical and critical throughout, making this an insightful and essential reference for 20th-century studies.

College & Research Libraries News - George M. Eberhart

[I]ncludes some truly insightful profiles of key figures. . . . [A] work well worth reading.

Wilson Quarterly - Irving Louis Horowitz

Access to archives in the former Soviet Union and its satellites behind the iron curtain has enabled the 160 scholars who contributed articles to this compendium to present information formerly out of the reach of all but a few in those countries. . . . No other comparable, current source covers twentieth-century communism in similar topical fashion. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.

Booklist - James Rettig

[T]he high quality of the prose, the distinguished community of authors, and the imaginative variety of topics covered will make this a worthwhile reference.

H-Net Reviews raic Kenney

[A] monumental, engrossing, truly comprehensive encyclopaedia of world communism.
— Vladimir Tismaneanu

International Affairs

A Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism promises to be immensely helpful to both teachers and students of world history. . . . [A] very powerful contribution to the relationship between aesthetics, culture, and fascism.
— Robert W. Strayer

Journal of World History

This is a huge and useful enterprise. . . . Most of the leading figures of the history of communism, the communist parties, important institutions, ideological concepts, and political events are included in a well selected and concise form. This timely and important dictionary offers a broad historical and historiographical overview of twentieth century world communism. This is a significant step toward achieving the difficult task of encompassing communism as a historical phenomenon in its complexity.
— IvanT. Berend

European Legacy

[T]he encyclopedia as a whole is a substantial and valuable project. The individual entries are almost all of high quality. The sustained effort at treating communism as a global movement means that Russian specialists will learn a great deal about less familiar places.
— David R. Stone

Russian Review

[A] Dictionary of 20th-Century Communism is rather different. Its entries are mostly very thorough and informative, and if one or two are written in a language that reflects the jargon of its subject, that is a small price to pay for an approach usefully empathetic to its unempathetic protagonists.
— Mark Mazower

National Interest

For socialists, this base of knowledge of the historical legacy of the most important revolutionary event in the 20th century, the Russian Revolution of 1917, is indispensable.
— Lawrence Rockwood

The Socialist WebZine

All the major names and events are covered, and an impressive variety of concepts or objects receive serious attention, too. . . . [T]he high quality of the prose, the distinguished community of authors, and the imaginative variety of topics covered will make this a worthwhile reference.
— Padraic Kenney

H-Net Reviews

An ideologically and internationally diverse lot of contributors manage to keep the tone analytical and critical throughout, making this an insightful and essential reference for 20th-century studies.
— George M. Eberhart

College & Research Libraries News

[I]ncludes some truly insightful profiles of key figures. . . . [A] work well worth reading.
— Irving Louis Horowitz

Wilson Quarterly

Access to archives in the former Soviet Union and its satellites behind the iron curtain has enabled the 160 scholars who contributed articles to this compendium to present information formerly out of the reach of all but a few in those countries. . . . No other comparable, current source covers twentieth-century communism in similar topical fashion. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
— James Rettig

Booklist

One of Library Journal's Best Reference Books, Law & Politics Category for 2010

From the Publisher

"This indispensable reference explains what communism was, the forms it took, and the enormous role it played in world history."

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