Richard Pipes

Richard Pipes analiza dos conceptos fundamentales, propiedad y libertad, desde perspectivas históricas y filosóficas. En este libro toma como ejemplo dos naciones que los han entendido de manera distinta, Inglaterra y Rusia, para revelar los vinculos entre propiedad privada y la nocion de libertad como un derecho inherente al ser humano. Sin embargo, se trata de un analisis que no se limita a cuestiones economicas.Es un recorrido fascinante y enriquecedor a lo largo de la historia de la lucha del ser humano por hacer valer su individualismo y, al mismo tiempo, integrarse plenamente en una sociedad.

Este libro es, sobre todo, una historia de la Unión Soviética. A partir de nuevas informaciones, Richard Pipes explica la evolución del país desde la revolución de 197, el gran terror y la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la expansion global, el declive del regimen y el colapso final. Pocos relatos hay tan dramaticos en la historia moderna como el que cuenta como las obras y la labor de agitacion de dos pensadores europeos de mitad del siglo XIX, llamados Marx y Engels, condujo a una grandiosa y terrible religion mundial que acabo con un imperio, consumio el mundo en conflictos y dejo tras de si una estela de devastacion cuyo coste solo ahora comienza a ser valorado.

One of the most enduring dreams is of a Utopian society in which all possessions are held in common ownership, and there is never a quarrel over "mine" and "thine". As Professor Pipes argues in this book, such a dream has never been translated into reality in the secular world, despite the best efforts of socialist and communist ideologues. Acquisitiveness is deeply ingrained in all living creatures and all societies for both economic and psychological reasons. Where there are no guarantees of property there are no limits to state authority and no regulatory bodies of law, and hence no guarantee of individual liberty, or "civil rights". Herein lies the crux of the authors argument.

A groundbreaking, inclusive history of the Russian Revolution for "those who want to discover what really happened to Russia" (The New York Times Book Review)A "monumental study" (Wall Street Journal), enthralling in its narrative of a movement whose purpose, in the words of Leon Trotsky, was "to overthrow the world,"The Russian Revolution draws conclusions that have aroused great controversy. Richard Pipes argues convincingly that the Russian Revolution was an intellectual, rather than a class, uprising; that it was steeped in terror from its very outset; and that it was not a revolution at all but a coup detat"the capture of governmental power by a small minority."

From one of our greatest historians, a magnificent reckoning with the modern worlds most fateful idea.With astonishing authority and clarity, Richard Pipes has fused a lifetimes scholarship into a single focused history of Communism, from its hopeful birth as a theory to its miserable death as a practice. At its heart, the book is a history of the Soviet Union, the most comprehensive reorganization of human society ever attempted by a nation-state. Drawing on much new information, Richard Pipes explains the countryis evolution from the 1917 revolution to the Great Terror and World War II, global expansion and the Cold War chess match with the United States, and the regimes decline and ultimate collapse. There is no more dramatic story in modern history, nor one more crucial to master, than that of how the writing and agitation of two mid-nineteenth-century European thinkers named Marx and Engels led to a great and terrible world religion that brought down a mighty empire, consumed the world in conflict, and left in its wake a devastation whose full costs can only now be tabulated.

An authoritative history of the Russian Revolution and the "violent and disruptive acts" that created the first modern totalitarian regime, portraying the crisis at the heart of the tsarist empire"A deep and eloquent condemnation of the revolution and its aftermath." The New York TimesDrawing on archival materials released in Russia, Richard Pipes chronicles the upheaval that began as a conservative revolt but was soon captured by messianic intellectuals intent not merely on reforming Russia but on remaking the world. He provides fresh accounts of the revolutions personalities and policies, crises, and cruelties, from the murder of the royal family through civil war, famine, and state terror. Brilliantly and persuasively, Pipes shows us why the resulting system owes less to the theories of Marx than it did to the character of Lenin and Russias long authoritarian tradition. What ensues is a path-clearing work that is indispensable to any understanding of the events of the century.

From the accliamed authority on Russia and the Russian Revolutionthe final volume in his magisterial history of the Russian Revolution, covering the period from the outbreak of the Civil War in 1918 to Lenins death in 1924"Offers a penetrating analysis of the making of the Soviet system.... [It is] a passionate book whose outstanding scholarship is rooted in universal values like truth, honor, responsibility and the sacredness of human life." Philadelphia Inquirer"Timely.... The work is enriched in intriguing ways by the authors access to the once-secret archives of the Soviet Union." Los Angeles Times

La obra fundamental sobre la revolución rusa, un acontecimiento que marcó decisivamente el siglo XX.Richard Pipes, historiador de máximo prestigio especializado en la Rusia contemporánea, publicó en 1992 este volumen sobre la revolucion rusa que aun no ha sido superado.Monumental y apasionante por la narracion de un movimiento cuyo fin era volver el mundo del reves, tal y como pretendia Trotski, el libro de Pipes presenta una revolucion intelectual mas que de clase, marcada desde el comienzo por el terror y con elementos propios de un golpe de estado. Una obra fundamental.Reseñas: Inteligente y brillante, bien escrita, esta obra sigue resultando apasionante. Juan Aviles, El Cultural de El MundoHay pocos intentos de conseguir una obra tan completa. Pipes es un adelantado.The New York TimesUn estudio monumental de interes absorbente, por el mejor historiados de la Rusia moderna. Escrito con lucidez, insuperable en precision y amplitud.Wall Street Journal

La obra fundamental sobre la revolución rusa, un acontecimiento que marcó decisivamente el siglo XX. Richard Pipes, historiador de máximo prestigio especializado en la Rusia contemporánea, publicó en 1992 este volumen sobre la revolucion rusa que aun no ha sido superado. Monumental y apasionante por la narracion de un movimiento cuyo fin era volver el mundo del reves, tal y como pretendia Trotski, el libro de Pipes presenta una revolucion intelectual mas que de clase, marcada desde el comienzo por el terror y con elementos propios de un golpe de estado. Una obra fundamental.Reseñas:Inteligente y brillante, bien escrita, esta obra sigue resultando apasionante.Juan Aviles, El Cultural de El Mundo Hay pocos intentos de conseguir una obra tan completa. Pipes es un adelantado.The New York Times Un estudio monumental de interes absorbente, por el mejor historiados de la Rusia moderna. Escrito con lucidez, insuperable en precision y amplitud.Wall Street Journal