File spoon-archives/marxism-thaxis.archive/marxism-thaxis_1996/96-11-23.164, message 4


Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 15:41:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Re: M-TH: Pipes



Pipes' History was translated in Russian with great fanfare.
Unfortunately, no one can afford to buy it, or any other book; the few
with money, of course, are uninterested in reading and need no persuasions
about the Evils of Communism. The situation in France in not surprising.
You guys have lead the antirevolutionary intellectual wave, starting with
trhe New Philosophers in the 1970s. Remember Henri-Levy? Whatever happened
to that turkey, anyway? 

It has to be emphasized that (a) there are respectable right wing studies
of the USSR and the Russian revolution. One may differ with Conquest,
Shapiro, Crankshaw, Service, etc. on various conclusions, points of
method, lots of things. But these are people from whom one can learn. (b)
There are respectable left wing critiques of Leninism, too many to
mention. Sam Farber is a case in point. (c) But Pipes is a real disgrace,
not because he's right wing, but because he is so ideologically blinded
that it short circuits his ability to reason and to gather and appraise
evidence. Frankly, I am deeply irritated at the time I wasted plowing
through his History. --jks

On 29 Oct 1996, jc mullen wrote:

> I agree with Justin about Pipes. But Pipes is extremely important. Here in
> France his History of the Russian Revolution was trumpeted ( full page covergae
> in Le Monde) and praised . Really a good sign of how capitalismin deep crisis
> prefers idiocy to anything else (see Yeltsin etc)
> John Mullen
> SI France
> 
> 
> 
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