The failure of the Communist god
In a recent friendly telephone conversation , Russian President Vladimir Putin may well have exclaimed to U.S. President Donald Trump , "Darn that dream I dream each night, but it haunts me and it won't come true."
It would be a timely commentary on present day Russia . On this 100th anniversary of the October 1917 Russian Revolution , it is useful to assess the existence and the failure of the dreams of 20th century Russian Bolsheviks with their aspirations for a new society and a world Communist revolution , and the consequent disillusionment of the faithful, and their sad fate, resulting from the disastrous reality of the Soviet regime led by Josef Stalin.
Compelling narratives have been related concerning the drama and tragedy of the Old Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union in powerful and compelling works by Arthur Koestler, George Orwell, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Victor Kravchenko, among others.
Now, the narrative is recounted in a massive 1,100 page, brilli...