Scan barcode
lindsirae's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
It only took me a year and a half to finish this but I finally did
tadici's review against another edition
5.0
Losurdo deconstructs revisionist historians' attempts in apologizing for and rehabilitating Western colonialist empire, more specifically the two anglophone empires. He largely uses the works of these reactionary historians to show the contradictions, narrative changes, omissions, and lies. This book is simply excellent in its approach and analysis.
zachcarter's review against another edition
4.0
This is easily the best book I've read on the twentieth century. Losurdo's scholarship is truly indispensable. He dismantles the mythology and historical revisionism of (neo)liberal historians on the "Second Thirty Years War" whose beginning is traditionally marked with the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917. His analysis of imperialism, colonialism, Nazism and communism, and politico-moral and racial de-specification, make understanding the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany completely understandable as a result of centuries of imperial pillage and colonial genocide. I also see his historical analysis in great dialogue with Gerald Horne in terms of the political formulations of Western empire and white supremacist settler colonial regimes.
The ooooonly thing is that Losurdo sometimes goes a little overboard with the quotations lol, the first couple chapters were really tough to get through for me. But when he finally gets going, I could not put this down.
The last chapter he gives a good overview of Stalin, which definitely sets me up well to read his book "Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend" next!!
The ooooonly thing is that Losurdo sometimes goes a little overboard with the quotations lol, the first couple chapters were really tough to get through for me. But when he finally gets going, I could not put this down.
The last chapter he gives a good overview of Stalin, which definitely sets me up well to read his book "Stalin: The History and Critique of a Black Legend" next!!
franchenstein's review against another edition
5.0
I came to this book expecting to find some laughable, predictable and unashamed defense of Lenin, Stalin, the Soviet Union and all other communist revolutions of the 20th century. I wanted to give a chance to this side of the argument but I was expecting to be already against it.
Losurdo actually surprised me quite a lot. First of all, the focus seemed to be on deconstructing the myth of the communists regimes as unparalleled in the history of blood thirst and tyranny by contextualizing them, but never denying when they committed massacres or their poor management created famines. But it shows how some revisionist historians are either naive or in bad faith to relate these catastrophes with the Nazi and the holocaust, for example.
First, by showing that Nazi-Fascism was quite inspired by imperialism and colonialism, looking up to the British Empire or taking inspiration from the American expansion to the West for Germany to expand into the East.
He shows the Western tradition of genocides with colonial or enslaved populations, concentration camps, dehumanization from a racial perspective and shows the darkest passages from thinkers like Burke, Nolte and Fergusson.
The writer also shows how some accusations of man-made famines laid on the shoulders of the USSR are questionable or happened in similar circumstances to Colonial India, while Churchill doesn't get the same bad reputation as Stalin. Or how the famines in China were endemic and the one that happened during Mao's government was partly aggravated because of his poor management, but the blame should also be shared with American sabotage. And even with that, those countries managed, for a high price, to end these recurrent tragedies.
By contextualizing both the failures of the Western Liberal tradition and the Revolutionary regimes we get a sense that history is not so black and white and although it doesn't even try to convince the reader to be an unapologetic Stalinist as I first expected, it at least makes you rethink what you know about all the currently debated ideologies.
It's a thorough, well researched and impressive read while keeping it simple and enjoyable to read.
Losurdo actually surprised me quite a lot. First of all, the focus seemed to be on deconstructing the myth of the communists regimes as unparalleled in the history of blood thirst and tyranny by contextualizing them, but never denying when they committed massacres or their poor management created famines. But it shows how some revisionist historians are either naive or in bad faith to relate these catastrophes with the Nazi and the holocaust, for example.
First, by showing that Nazi-Fascism was quite inspired by imperialism and colonialism, looking up to the British Empire or taking inspiration from the American expansion to the West for Germany to expand into the East.
He shows the Western tradition of genocides with colonial or enslaved populations, concentration camps, dehumanization from a racial perspective and shows the darkest passages from thinkers like Burke, Nolte and Fergusson.
The writer also shows how some accusations of man-made famines laid on the shoulders of the USSR are questionable or happened in similar circumstances to Colonial India, while Churchill doesn't get the same bad reputation as Stalin. Or how the famines in China were endemic and the one that happened during Mao's government was partly aggravated because of his poor management, but the blame should also be shared with American sabotage. And even with that, those countries managed, for a high price, to end these recurrent tragedies.
By contextualizing both the failures of the Western Liberal tradition and the Revolutionary regimes we get a sense that history is not so black and white and although it doesn't even try to convince the reader to be an unapologetic Stalinist as I first expected, it at least makes you rethink what you know about all the currently debated ideologies.
It's a thorough, well researched and impressive read while keeping it simple and enjoyable to read.
mikeylikes2read's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
I felt like I learned a lot, but I can’t remember a damn thing.
belongsinamuseum's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
The most important work of historical analysis on the subject of the twentieth century
pboina's review against another edition
4.0
The analysis of reformism within the west academia is incredible, re studying history to the lens of losurdo is also worth the book, however not his best book