File spoon-archives/marxism.archive/marxism_1996/96-06-marxism/96-06-26.161, message 128


Date: Sat, 22 Jun 1996 14:31:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Irwin Silber <isilber-AT-igc.apc.org>
Subject: Socialism: What Went Wrong?


Interested in a provocative analysis of the crisis of socialism?  Read
my book, "Socialism: What Went Wrong? - An inquiry into the theoretical
and historical roots of the Soviet collapse and the socialist crisis." 

Published by Pluto Press in 1994, "Socialism: What Went Wrong?" deals
with the following topics: 
 

1. Marxism-Leninism: Political Anatomy of a Doctrine

2. Capitalism on the Rocks?

3. The Vanguard Party

4. The Transition to Socialism

5. "Actually Existing Socialism"

6. Dictatorship of the Proletariat

7. World Revolution I ("Workers of the World Unite")

8. World Revolution II (The World Socialist System)

9. Where To?  What Next?


Paul Buhle, Editor of The Encyclopedia of the U.S. Left., calls it "A
provocative, well-written volume which will discomfit defenders of
orthodoxy and promote a no-holds barred discussion of communism's past
and socialism's possibilities." 
 

Elizabeth Martinez, columnist for Z Magazine and author of "Five Hundred
Years of Chicano History," says: "In an era of capitalist triumphalism,
many progressive intellectuals have simply dismissed socialism with
little effort to understand what went wron g in the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe. Irwin Silber has the fair-mindedness, courage and wisdom
to reject that path.  Assuming that a future system based on social
justice is possible and necessary, he offers an insightful and
provocative analysis of p ast efforts.  It will be an important
contribution to building a new movement." 

And Professor Tony Platt at California State University in Sacramento
calls the book "A sober, unsentimental assessment of what went wrong
with socialism.  Irwin Silber, a longtime veteran of socialist and
communist movements, uses his considerable practi cal and analytical
experience to demystify 'Marxism-Leninism.' Those who prefer their icons
and dogmas intact and untouched should stay away from this book. 
Clearly written, sharply argued and highly stimulating, Silber's book is
must reading for longtim e activists who want to learn from the past and
for political neophytes who don't want to repeat it." 
 

Since my book is no longer readily available in most bookstores, I've
decided to offer the paperback edition of it myself to anyone
interested.  "Socialism: What Went Wrong?" is 310 pages and sells for
$18.95.  You can order it directly from me at: 4191 F ruitvale Ave.,
Oakland, California 94602.  Add $3.00 for postage. 

 




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