Soviet True-Believers?

January 9, 2007 7:43 PM

I am looking for books written by True-Believers in the old Soviet Union (published in English). I'm doing some research regarding the former Soviet Union and, obviously, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of books reviling the former Soviet Union. I have found only one defending the USSR and its system: the memoirs of Yegor Ligachev. Can anybody help with books written from a pro-USSR viewpoint (since the fall)? Many thanks in advance!
posted by Gerard Sorme to Law & Government (11 answers total)

Back in the day, quite a few people took a stance of critical support towards the USSR and other Communist states. That is, while they hated what the leadership of those countries had done to the socialist movement, they sided with those countries when they came into military or diplomatic conflict with capitalist countries because, all political degeneration aside, those countries had progressed beyond capitalism and that gain alone was worth defending.

The catch-all name for this movement is Trotskyism. A representative book is The Revolution Betrayed

(Full disclosure: Back in the day, I was one of those people. I am now older and wiser.)

If you're looking for authors who supported the Soviet Union with no reservations or qualifications, ask the Communist Party USA. They'll point you in that direction.
posted by jason's_planet at 8:47 PM on January 9, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks, Jason's Planet. I remember well all the CPUSA books from "International Publishers".....and all the splintered Trotskyists. What I am looking for now are books written since the fall of the USSR. The True-Believers who spoke out against the loss of the old Soviet Union. Thanks for your reply!

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posted by Gerard Sorme at 9:01 PM on January 9, 2007

I don't think you'll find much written after 1991 supporting the USSR. Rather, what you'll find is more general support for Socialism that tries to pretend that the USSR never happened.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:01 PM on January 9, 2007

You might find something relevant poking around the forums at Soviet Empire. The site gathers a fair few nostalgics and apologists.
posted by Abiezer at 10:03 PM on January 9, 2007

Well, there's always this guy.
posted by washburn at 11:02 PM on January 9, 2007

John Reed's Ten days that Shook the World.
posted by spasm at 11:13 PM on January 9, 2007

I followed my own advice, as I haven't poked round soviet-empire.com for a while (and my interest is in the decline of other communist states), and came across a link to this essay at a site for people wanting to see the Soviet Union reformed. A quick scan reveals it to be a pretty trenchant defence of the USSR.
They mention books by Harpal Brar, who heads the wee splinter party the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist). He's written Perestroika - The Complete Collapse of Revisionism which purports to answer the question, "how was it that the USSR... ...collapsed as a socialist state so ignominiously?"
posted by Abiezer at 12:16 AM on January 10, 2007

This essay mentions a few..

Martin Secker's Searchlight Books printed some British ones during the war. Might be difficult to find though.
posted by By The Grace of God at 12:34 AM on January 10, 2007

woops - disregard, no post-1991 here..
posted by By The Grace of God at 1:04 AM on January 10, 2007

Eric Hobsbawm, in Interesting Times justifies his long held conviction that the Soviets were right and his participation in the Communist party in Britain.
posted by jmgorman at 6:32 AM on January 10, 2007

Response by poster: Some great sources offered. Thanks so much!

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posted by Gerard Sorme at 10:00 AM on January 10, 2007