Almost two decades after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR, leading historian Robert Service examines the history of communism throughout the world. Comrades! moves from Marx and Lenin to Mao and Castro and beyond to trace communism from its beginnings to the present day.Offering vivid portraits of the protagonists and decisive events in communist history, Service looks not only at the high politics of communist regimes but also at the social conditions that led millions to support communism in so many countries. After outlining communism’s origins with Marx and Engels and its first success with Lenin and the Russian Revolution in 1917, Service examines the Soviet bloc, long-lasting regimes like Yugoslavia and Cuba, the Chinese revolution, the spread of communism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and the international links among the hundreds of parties. He covers communism’s organization and ideology as well as its general appeal. He looks at abortive communist revolutions and at the ineffectual parties in the United States and elsewhere.Service offers a human view of the story as well as a global analysis. His uncomfortable conclusion—and an important message for the twenty-first century—is that although communism in its original form is now dying or dead, the poverty and injustice that enabled its rise are still dangerously alive. Unsettling and compellingly written, Comrades! is the most comprehensive study of one of the most important movements of the modern world.

World Communism: A History of The Communist International by F. Borkenau with a New Introduction by Raymond Aron covers topics such as the Russian Revolutionary Movement, Bolshevism, labor in the war, the German revolution, the foundation and various phases of the Communist International, China's revolution and soviets, and significant historical events up to the rise of Hitler and the role of the Comintern in colonial contexts. In the new introduction, Aron emphasizes the historical context of Borkenau's original work, written in 1939. He discusses the significance of the book's conclusions, its enduring relevance, and Borkenau's sound analysis of Bolshevik ideology and its incompatibility with Western proletarian movements. Aron reflects on the phases of the Comintern’s influence and its broader implications on revolutions in Europe and Asia, particularly noting the distinct revolutionary circumstances in China. The book includes significant chapter coverage of key historical moments and analyses the systematic echoes between Bolshevik principles and their global impact. It is an essential read for those studying the intricate developments and historical contexts of international Communism and Marxism.