Erik van Ree – författare

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Politburo (1992) is the definitive history and political analysis of this institution. Extensive use of new Soviet sources permitted the authors to provide a comprehensive analysis of the way in which the Politburo operated and a sociological examination of its membership. The history of the Politburo is presented in a lucid and rigorous account that charts its development from creation by Lenin in 1919 to sidetracking by Gorbachev in 1990: an organization that, as the authors state, ‘subjected the whole of the USSR to its ruthless dictatorship, but itself bowed time and again to the leader of its own making’.

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Politburo (1992) is the definitive history and political analysis of this institution. Extensive use of new Soviet sources permitted the authors to provide a comprehensive analysis of the way in which the Politburo operated and a sociological examination of its membership. The history of the Politburo is presented in a lucid and rigorous account that charts its development from creation by Lenin in 1919 to sidetracking by Gorbachev in 1990: an organization that, as the authors state, ‘subjected the whole of the USSR to its ruthless dictatorship, but itself bowed time and again to the leader of its own making’.

The idea that socialism could be established in a single country was adopted as an official doctrine by the Soviet Union in 1925, Stalin and Bukharin being the main formulators of the policy. Before this there had been much debate as to whether the only way to secure socialism would be as a result of socialist revolution on a much broader scale, across all Europe or wider still. This book traces the development of ideas about communist utopia from Plato onwards, paying particular attention to debates about universalist ideology versus the possibility for "socialism in one country". The book argues that although the prevailing view is that "socialism in one country" was a sharp break from a long tradition that tended to view socialism as only possible if universal, in fact the territorially confined socialist project had long roots, including in the writings of Marx and Engels.

The idea that socialism could be established in a single country was adopted as an official doctrine by the Soviet Union in 1925, Stalin and Bukharin being the main formulators of the policy. Before this there had been much debate as to whether the only way to secure socialism would be as a result of socialist revolution on a much broader scale, across all Europe or wider still. This book traces the development of ideas about communist utopia from Plato onwards, paying particular attention to debates about universalist ideology versus the possibility for "socialism in one country". The book argues that although the prevailing view is that "socialism in one country" was a sharp break from a long tradition that tended to view socialism as only possible if universal, in fact the territorially confined socialist project had long roots, including in the writings of Marx and Engels.