To Overthrow the World

It is well worth reading. — Wall Street Journal

A sweeping, unsparing history of the oppression meted out to billions of people by Communist regimes. — TLS

Three decades since the Soviet Union’s collapse prompted Francis Fukuyama to proclaim the 'End of History', things look different. Russia may no longer be Communist, but Stalin is more admired there than at any time since his death in 1953. The United States has bled power and prestige in uncanny parallel with China’s rise in economic strength and global influence—not least in the US itself. Liberal democratic capitalism seems moribund, while Chinese Communism assimilates the world. How and why did this happen?

In his sweeping history, Sean McMeekin investigates the evolution of Communism from the seductive ideal of a classless society into the ruling doctrine of tyrannical regimes. From Marx’s writings to the global resurgence of Communism in the twenty-first century, McMeekin argues that, despite the endurance of this political system, it remains deeply unpopular. Where it has arisen, it has always arisen by force.

Blending narrative with cutting-edge scholarship, To Overthrow the World revolutionises our understanding of Communism—an idea that seemingly cannot die.

• A history of an ideology and its tyrannical adherents who stubbornly refuse to go away.
• While Soviet Communism collapsed three decades ago, the Chinese model has been thriving and spreading its influence globally.
• Sean McMeekin is the author of eight award-winning books including Stalin's War: A New History of World War.