In Search of Revolution: International Communist Parties in the Third Period

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The end of the Cold War and the opening of the Soviet, and especially Comintern, archives, have revolutionized the history and historiography of Communism and the Soviet Union and national communist parties. Nowhere has the upheaval been greater than in the history of the "Third Period". The Communist International (Comintern) officially announced in 1928 the "Third Period" in capitalist development and communist struggle. All national communist parties had to cease collaboration with social democrat and labour movements and adopt the policy of "class against class" as dictated by Moscow. Most historians have seen this policy as a disaster leading to the demise of communism as an international force. However, this collection of contributions by an international team of scholars demonstrates not only that international communism survived, national parties flourished, fought fascism, and the Popular Front emerged as a major international force.

Reviews

Institute of Historical Research: "nuanced...interesting" "The essays in In Search of Revolution stand out for the way they have succeeded in combining a knowledge of the secondary literature (itself immense) with both the national and international sources." "an excellent collection of essays by fifteen young specialists who have all already won their spurs by writing books and articles on some aspect of communist history in the twentieth century."

Author Bio

Matthew Worley is Lecturer in History at the University of Reading and author of Class Against Class and Labour Inside the Gate, published by I.B.Tauris.