Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsExpected something different
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023
The book falls short of the title and of the promised I had heard from Malice during interviews.
It is a historical account primarily of the rise and fall of European Communist totalitarian regimes, and how the US, the UK (and the West), and their citizens worked to oppose them; with brief mentions to Hitler's Germany, China and Korea. But (almost) nothing of Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam, Central America or Venezuela;
On this history of totalitarian states in Europe, the book delivers a ton of copiously annotated content. Very heavy, powerful, moving information. And faster than getting through "The Gulag Archipelago," say. This is why I give the second star.
But it takes way too long to get to the punchline: "the white pill." The last chapter. And then, a sentence and it is done. No current examples for optimism. No prescriptions as to where to go. No predictions as to where we may be headed. ZERO of the Malice humorous mocking some of the duffuses of out time who have shown that totalitarian impulse so recently and how we peacefully have countered it.
On that, the book disappoints massively.
Surprisingly lacking, it does not live up to its promise.
If you're looking for "the white pill" just listen to Malice's interviews in the book tour. He gives out more white pills talking for one hour than in these 342 pages.