Hey all. Despite having been an ML for a while, my knowledge of AES is quite lacking. I want to spend my time off in the summer to read and study this. But with so many history books being written by bourgeouis historians which come down to “1000 gazillon dead, Stalin evil”, I’m unsure what books to consult. So, what books would you recommen to learn about AES states, their development, achievements, failures, leaders, etc?
Regarding the USSR, it seems Ronald Suny has written some good books (“The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States”, “Red Flag Unfurled: Historians, the Russian Revolution, and the Soviet Experience”, and “Red Flag Wounded: Stalinism and the Fate of the Soviet Experiment”, Ronald Suny) as well as Richard Wolff (“Class Theory and History: Capitalism and Communism in the USSR”). Anyone read these and have an opinion to share? Anyone have recommendations about other states, like Cuba, Vietnam, China?
Apologies if this has been asked before, I couldn’t find any relevant threads.
The GenZedong discord has many books listed in their server, you’ll have enough books to be radicalized and look in z-library, its recommendations based on the book you are looking for are always good
Could you post the links here for those of us who don’t have Discord accounts?
Of course
Korea: -Patriots, Traitors and Empires… -Reading guide -Korea’s place in the sun
URSS: -History of the URSS -A short history of the communist party of the soviet union -Soviet but not Russian
CHINA: -Reading list on Socialism with Chinese characteristics OR Reading guide on China OR Chinese Marxism
I didn’t find for cuba or vietnam but you can read these first and later use z.library once you have some background
Also: any literature that is meticulously sourced, especially using primary sources, like Grover Furr’s work
Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow is a good account of the CPC in its earlier days.
For those who prefer audiobooks, Socialism for All has recorded most (all?) of the basic Marxism-Leninism study guide mentioned by Muad’Dibber
You could read ProleWiki articles, probably their sources have some information, and I also have a quite a few books on that matter on my BookWyrm account, but I don’t have a list made, I’ll try to do one an post it here.
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I’d add Richard Medhurst for those interested in Syria, Iran, Palestine, etc. – his streams are very long, but he posts individual segments, like his excellent video about the blockade on Yemen (… which I can’t find at the moment, but here is the corresponding article)
Ok so I’ve seen the acronym “AES” thrown around a few times now. What exactly does it stand for?
“Actually Existing Socialism” (i.e. where some level of socialism has been implemented)
Awesome, thanks!
