David Priestland

El comunismo ha sido uno de los más poderosos movimientos políticos e intelectuales del mundo contemporáneo, capaz de suscitar una amplia esperanza colectiva en la posibilidad de crear una sociedad mas justa.Una vez transcurridos veinte años de su derrumbe, ha llegado el momento de estudiarlo objetivamente, no solo en el contexto de la guerra fria, sino en toda su historia y en su dimension universal. Ello resulta hoy posible gracias a la gran cantidad de documentacion secreta que se ha desclasificado en los ultimos años, como la que Priestland ha podido utilizar en los archivos de Moscu y de Beijing. Este es, ademas, el momento oportuno para revisar sus conquistas y sus fracasos, cuando, en plena crisis de la economia del capitalismo, no esta claro que una parte de sus planteamientos hayan perdido toda vigencia. Priestland nos ofrece un panorama fascinante, que no se limita a la politica, sino que utiliza el analisis de la culturapeliculas, novelas- para hacernos revivir las perspectivas e ilusiones de sus protagonistas.

Communism was one of the most powerful political and intellectual movements of the modern world; at the height of its influence over a third of the world''s population lived under Communist rule. And yet very few predicted either its bewildering rise or sudden decline, while even close observers were mystified by its frequent convulsions and turbulent politics. In "The Red Flag", David Priestland provides an original account of the Communist movement that fully explores its global impact. He not only discusses the ideas and motivations of its principal thinkers and leaders - from Marx to Mao, from Stalin to Che Guevara, but also asks why Communism inspired its rank and file - from the militants of 1920s Russia and the guerrilla fighters of China to the Marxist students of Ethiopia and the urban terrorists of Europe in the 1970s. At same the time "The Red Flag" explores the experience of living under Communism for its millions of subjects. In his lively and absorbing narrative Priestland stresses how varied a phenomenon Communism was. He traces its emergence in the aftermath of the French Revolution, and shows how those early ideas evolved and mutated as they moved across time and place, from the barricades of Europe in 1848 to the villages of Nepal today. At a time when the post-Cold War order is itself in crisis and we enter a new phase of global political and economic uncertainty, "The Red Flag" is essential reading. ''A mesmerizing survey of the ideological and political history of communism. Priestland successfully crafts a global account of communism''s development and mutation across nations and generations, deftly combining academic rigour, personal histories and an engaging narrative. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, "The Red Flag" provides a formative account of communism''s rise and fall and its extraordinary impact on the lives of millions''

Priestland nos ofrece un panorama fascinante, que no se limita a la política, sino que utiliza el análisis de la cultura -películas, novelas- para hacernos revivir las perspectivas e ilusiones de sus protagonistas.El comunismo ha sido uno de los mas poderosos movimientos politicos e intelectuales del mundo contemporaneo, capaz de suscitar una amplia esperanza colectiva en la posibilidad de crear una sociedad mas justa. Una vez transcurridos veinte años de su derrumbe, ha llegado el momento de estudiarlo objetivamente, no solo en el contexto de la Guerra Fria, sino en toda su historia y dimension universal. Ello resulta hoy posible gracias a la gran cantidad de documentacion secreta que se ha desclasificado en los ultimos años, como la que Priestland ha podido utilizar en los archivos de Moscu y Beijing. Este es, ademas, el momento oportuno para revisar sus conquistas y fracasos, cuando, en plena crisis de la economia del capitalismo, no esta claro que una parte de sus planteamientos hayan perdido vigencia

Communism was one of the most powerful political and intellectual movements of the modern world; at the height of their influence Communist regimes controlled more than a third of the earths surface. Given its rapid rise and extensive reach, its sudden and wholly unpredicted collapse after 1989 seems all the more astonishing and in need of explanation.In The Red Flag, David Priestland tells the extraordinary story of a movement that took hold in many societies and countries throughout the world. He examines the ideas and motives of its principal thinkers and leaders:from Marx to Mao, and from Stalin to Che Guevara. Priestland asks what it was about Communism that inspired not only its leaders but also the rank and file -whether the militants of 1920s Russia, the guerrilla fighters of China, or the Marxist students of Ethiopia. And he explores the experience of what it meant to live under Communism for its millions of subjects.The Red Flag looks at Communist regimes efforts to build new states and industrial economies, but also explains their grim failures and, in some cases, their capacity to inflict extreme violence. He shows how varied a phenomenon Communism was and the manifold nature of its appeal across different societies: in some it flourished as a response to internal inequalities - economic, political and cultural; in others it became the blueprint for catching up with the modernized West. And yet, while eagerly destroying old structures of privilege, Communist regimes simultaneously built new ones, and it was this dynamic, together with its widespread economic failure and an escalating loss of faith in the system, that destroyed Communism in much of the world.Now, when a seemingly triumphant globalized capitalism is itself in crisis and the world enters a new phase of political and economic uncertainty, The Red Flag is essential reading.

From historian David Priestland, Merchant, Soldier, Sage is a remarkable book that proposes a radical new approach to how we see our world, and who runs it, in the vein of Francis Fukuyamas The End of HistoryWe live in an age ruled by merchants. Competition, flexibility and profit are still the common currency, even at a time when Western countries have been driven off a cliff by these very values. But will it always be this way? David Priestland argues for the predominance in any society of one of three broad value systems - that of the merchant (commercial and competitive); the soldier (aristocratic and militaristic); and the sage (bureaucratic or creative). These castes struggle alongside the worker (egalitarian and artisanal) for power, and when they achieve supremacy, they can have such a strong hold over us that it is almost impossible to imagine life outside their grip. And yet there does come a point of drastic change, usually because one caste becomes too dominant. The result is economic crisis, war or revolution, and eventually a new caste takes over.Priestland argues, we are now in the midst of a period with all the classic signs of imminent change. As the history of the last century shows, there is good reason to be fearful of the forces that this failure may unleash. Merchant, Soldier, Sage is both a masterful dissection of our current predicament and a brilliant piece of history. The world will not look the same again.Reviews:We have here a gripping, argument-led history, efforlessly moving between New York, Tokyo and Berlin, from the Reformation to the 2008 economic crisis ... dazzling ... here, at last, is a work that places the current crisis in a longer history of seismic shifts in the balance of social powerFrank Trentman, BBC History MagazineConcise but extremely ambitious ... well worth pondering and reflecting on ... among the many contributions to the dissection of our current predicament, this is surely one of the most thought-provokingSir Richard J Evans, GuardianStimulating ... In illustrating these larger processes of caste conflict and caste collaboration, the author offers crisp portraits of entrepreneurs, economists and warriors ... Sparkling prose and ... arresting comparisonsRamachandra Guha, Financial TimesAbout the author:David Priestland has studied Communism in all its forms for many years, in both Oxford and Moscow State Universities. He is University Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford and a Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, and the author of Stalinism and the Politics of Mobilization. The Red Flag was shortlisted for the Longman/History Today prize.

El comunismo ha sido uno de los más poderosos movimientos políticos e intelectuales del mundo contemporáneo, capaz de suscitar una amplia esperanza colectiva en la posibilidad de crear una sociedad mas justa. Una vez transcurridos veinte años de su derrumbe, ha llegado el momento de estudiarlo objetivamente, no solo en el contexto de la guerra fria, sino en toda su historia y en su dimension universal. Ello resulta hoy posible gracias a la gran cantidad de documentacion secreta que se ha desclasificado en los ultimos años, como la que Priestland ha podido utilizar en los archivos de Moscu y de Beijing. Este es, ademas, el momento oportuno para revisar sus conquistas y sus fracasos, cuando, en plena crisis de la economia del capitalismo, no esta claro que una parte de sus planteamientos hayan perdido toda vigencia. Priestland nos ofrece un panorama fascinante, que no se limita a la politica, sino que utiliza el analisis de la cultura peliculas, novelas- para hacernos revivir las perspectivas e ilusiones de sus protagonistas.