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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023
The human lives lost through Stalin's purges, the Holodomor, the Soviet Death Camps in Siberia, the torture and murder by secret police across eastern Europe are all exposed for what they were; some of the most vile anti-human acts that have ever been perpetrated on people by their governments, their friends, and even their families. It shows how these totalitarian systems not only reduce people to a state of slavery it tears the very essence of what it means to be a human being from their bodies and often leaves entire societies as shriveled husks in a state of constant fear, paranoia, and violence.
Yet as dour as that sounds all is not lost. This work also shows how inherently unstable these systems are. How the constant fear and paranoia is not just a state of nature for the people living in these systems but for the rulers as well. It shows how small acts of kindness, of defiance, of humanity chip away at these vile systems and then when enough people find courage in themselves these systems collapse.
Sometimes with a bullet, sometimes with a vote, sometimes with one man simply refusing an order at the greatest risk to himself and his family. And that is why this book is a must read for all those who desire a world without tyrants. It shows you the darkest depths of the human condition but gives you proof that with enough brave souls willing to fight their way out of those depths there is always a path to liberty. There is always hope.
Michael Malice uses his characteristically sharp wit to shine a light on the dark history of communism and totalitarianism from its revolutionary beginnings to its gradual, then sudden, collapse. Told through extremely well sourced primary sources Malice puts a human face on horrors that all too often are reduced to statistics.
The human lives lost through Stalin's purges, the Holodomor, the Soviet Death Camps in Siberia, the torture and murder by secret police across eastern Europe are all exposed for what they were; some of the most vile anti-human acts that have ever been perpetrated on people by their governments, their friends, and even their families. It shows how these totalitarian systems not only reduce people to a state of slavery it tears the very essence of what it means to be a human being from their bodies and often leaves entire societies as shriveled husks in a state of constant fear, paranoia, and violence.
Yet as dour as that sounds all is not lost. This work also shows how inherently unstable these systems are. How the constant fear and paranoia is not just a state of nature for the people living in these systems but for the rulers as well. It shows how small acts of kindness, of defiance, of humanity chip away at these vile systems and then when enough people find courage in themselves these systems collapse.
Sometimes with a bullet, sometimes with a vote, sometimes with one man simply refusing an order at the greatest risk to himself and his family. And that is why this book is a must read for all those who desire a world without tyrants. It shows you the darkest depths of the human condition but gives you proof that with enough brave souls willing to fight their way out of those depths there is always a path to liberty. There is always hope.
The human lives lost through Stalin's purges, the Holodomor, the Soviet Death Camps in Siberia, the torture and murder by secret police across eastern Europe are all exposed for what they were; some of the most vile anti-human acts that have ever been perpetrated on people by their governments, their friends, and even their families. It shows how these totalitarian systems not only reduce people to a state of slavery it tears the very essence of what it means to be a human being from their bodies and often leaves entire societies as shriveled husks in a state of constant fear, paranoia, and violence.
Yet as dour as that sounds all is not lost. This work also shows how inherently unstable these systems are. How the constant fear and paranoia is not just a state of nature for the people living in these systems but for the rulers as well. It shows how small acts of kindness, of defiance, of humanity chip away at these vile systems and then when enough people find courage in themselves these systems collapse.
Sometimes with a bullet, sometimes with a vote, sometimes with one man simply refusing an order at the greatest risk to himself and his family. And that is why this book is a must read for all those who desire a world without tyrants. It shows you the darkest depths of the human condition but gives you proof that with enough brave souls willing to fight their way out of those depths there is always a path to liberty. There is always hope.
A gripping journey through the rise of communism through its ignominious fall.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023
Michael Malice uses his characteristically sharp wit to shine a light on the dark history of communism and totalitarianism from its revolutionary beginnings to its gradual, then sudden, collapse. Told through extremely well sourced primary sources Malice puts a human face on horrors that all too often are reduced to statistics.Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023
The human lives lost through Stalin's purges, the Holodomor, the Soviet Death Camps in Siberia, the torture and murder by secret police across eastern Europe are all exposed for what they were; some of the most vile anti-human acts that have ever been perpetrated on people by their governments, their friends, and even their families. It shows how these totalitarian systems not only reduce people to a state of slavery it tears the very essence of what it means to be a human being from their bodies and often leaves entire societies as shriveled husks in a state of constant fear, paranoia, and violence.
Yet as dour as that sounds all is not lost. This work also shows how inherently unstable these systems are. How the constant fear and paranoia is not just a state of nature for the people living in these systems but for the rulers as well. It shows how small acts of kindness, of defiance, of humanity chip away at these vile systems and then when enough people find courage in themselves these systems collapse.
Sometimes with a bullet, sometimes with a vote, sometimes with one man simply refusing an order at the greatest risk to himself and his family. And that is why this book is a must read for all those who desire a world without tyrants. It shows you the darkest depths of the human condition but gives you proof that with enough brave souls willing to fight their way out of those depths there is always a path to liberty. There is always hope.
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