Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
States concretely and compellingly the great issues of our time.


Review
"This book is an engrossing study of why men join a Communist party and the reasons why they are eventually compelled to resign... Engerman has done an admirable job of explaining the context of this work." -- Donald F. Busky, The Historian


Book Description
This classic work and crucial document of the Cold War brings together essays by six of the most important writers of the twentieth century, including André Gide, Richard Wright, Ignazio Silone, Stephen Spender, Arthur Koestler, and Louis Fischer, on their conversion to and subsequent disillusionment with communism. In describing their own experiences, the authors illustrate the fate of leftism around the world.


About the Author
Richard Crossman (1907--74) was a leader in the British Labour Party, serving in the Cabinet from 1964 until 1970. David Engerman is assistant professor of history at Brandeis University.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The God That Failed is a classic work and crucial document of the Cold War that brings together essays by six of the most important writers of the twentieth century on their conversion to and subsequent disillusionment with communism. In describing their own experiences, the authors illustrate the fate of leftism around the world. Andre Gide (France), Richard Wright (the United States), Ignazio Silone (Italy), Stephen Spender (England), Arthur Koestler (Germany), and Louis Fischer, an American foreign correspondent, all tell how their search for the betterment of humanity led them to communism, and the personal agony and revulsion which then caused them to reject it. David Engerman's new foreword to this central work of our time recounts the tumultuous events of the era, providing essential background. It also describes the book's origins and impact, the influence of communism in American intellectual life, and how the events described in The God That Failed continue to affect public discourse today.

SYNOPSIS

This classic work and crucial document of the Cold War brings together essays by six of the most important writers of the twentieth century, including André Gide, Richard Wright, Ignazio Silone, Stephen Spender, Arthur Koestler, and Louis Fischer, on their conversion to and subsequent disillusionment with communism. In describing their own exp

FROM THE CRITICS

Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

States concretely and compellingly the great issues of our time.

New York Herald Tribune