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The Rise of Communism: From Marx to Lenin
- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Lecture
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
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Communism in Power
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- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
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Trace the growth of communism from Stalin’s consolidation of power to the establishment of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Communism in Power: From Stalin to Mao. These 12 half-hour lessons shed intriguing light on a revolutionary movement that played an outsized role in the 20th century and continues to shape 21st-century geopolitics.
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It's difficult to imagine a nation with a history more compelling for Americans than Russia. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, this was the nation against which we measured our own nation's values and power and with whom war, if it ever came, could spell unimaginable catastrophe for our planet.Yet many Americans have never had the opportunity to study Russia in depth, and to see how the forces of history came together to shape a future so different from the dreams of most ordinary Russian people, eager to see their nation embrace Western values of progress, human rights, and justice.
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From the trenches of World War I to Nazi Germany to Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the 20th century was a time of unprecedented violence. Yet while such monumental violence seems senseless, it is not inexplicable. If we can understand the origins of violence, we may prevent even greater horrors in the century to come. These 24 necessary lectures trace the violent history of the 20th century, beginning with its early roots in the American and, especially, the French revolutions.
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a very partisan account
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Eastern Europe has long been thought of as the "Other Europe", a region rife with political upheaval, shifting national borders, an astonishing variety of ethnic diversity, and relative isolation from the centers of power in the West. It has also been, and continues to be, pivotal in the course of world events. A History of Eastern Europe offers a sweeping 1,000-year tour with a particular focus on the region's modern history.
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This lecture series takes you on a far-reaching journey around the globe - from China to the Americas to New Zealand - to shed light on how two dozen of the top discoveries, inventions, political upheavals, and ideas since 1400 have shaped the modern world. In just 24 thought-provoking lectures, you'll get the amazing story of how life as we know it developed. Starting in the early 15th century and culminating in the age of social media, you'll encounter astounding threads that weave through the centuries, joining these turning points in ways that may come as a revelation.
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Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, and others
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Communism in Power
- From Stalin to Mao
- Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
-
Performance
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Story
Trace the growth of communism from Stalin’s consolidation of power to the establishment of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Communism in Power: From Stalin to Mao. These 12 half-hour lessons shed intriguing light on a revolutionary movement that played an outsized role in the 20th century and continues to shape 21st-century geopolitics.
-
-
This professor does awesome courses
- By Jen on 2022-07-21
Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, and others
-
A History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev
- Written by: Mark Steinberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark Steinberg
- Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's difficult to imagine a nation with a history more compelling for Americans than Russia. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, this was the nation against which we measured our own nation's values and power and with whom war, if it ever came, could spell unimaginable catastrophe for our planet.Yet many Americans have never had the opportunity to study Russia in depth, and to see how the forces of history came together to shape a future so different from the dreams of most ordinary Russian people, eager to see their nation embrace Western values of progress, human rights, and justice.
-
-
Misses Key Elements in Russian History!
- By Jason Gacek on 2020-01-26
Written by: Mark Steinberg, and others
-
Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century
- Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the trenches of World War I to Nazi Germany to Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the 20th century was a time of unprecedented violence. Yet while such monumental violence seems senseless, it is not inexplicable. If we can understand the origins of violence, we may prevent even greater horrors in the century to come. These 24 necessary lectures trace the violent history of the 20th century, beginning with its early roots in the American and, especially, the French revolutions.
-
-
a very partisan account
- By Fabrice Saenger on 2020-04-24
Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, and others
-
A History of Eastern Europe
- Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eastern Europe has long been thought of as the "Other Europe", a region rife with political upheaval, shifting national borders, an astonishing variety of ethnic diversity, and relative isolation from the centers of power in the West. It has also been, and continues to be, pivotal in the course of world events. A History of Eastern Europe offers a sweeping 1,000-year tour with a particular focus on the region's modern history.
Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, and others
-
World War II: A Military and Social History
- Written by: Thomas Childers, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas Childers
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between 1937 and 1945, approximately 55 million people perished in the series of interrelated conflicts known as the Second World War. No continent was left untouched, no ocean unaffected. The war led to the eclipse of Europe and the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as global superpowers; ushered in the atomic age; produced, in the Holocaust, the most horrific crime ever committed in the history of Western civilization, and led to the end of Europe's colonial empires around the world.
-
-
Good but very Americanized
- By David Macfarlane on 2020-01-01
Written by: Thomas Childers, and others
-
Turning Points in Modern History
- Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This lecture series takes you on a far-reaching journey around the globe - from China to the Americas to New Zealand - to shed light on how two dozen of the top discoveries, inventions, political upheavals, and ideas since 1400 have shaped the modern world. In just 24 thought-provoking lectures, you'll get the amazing story of how life as we know it developed. Starting in the early 15th century and culminating in the age of social media, you'll encounter astounding threads that weave through the centuries, joining these turning points in ways that may come as a revelation.
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Best so far!
- By PCR on 2019-02-14
Written by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, and others
Publisher's Summary
How did communism become such a pervasive economic and political philosophy? Why did it first take root in early 20th-century Russia? These and other questions are part of a fascinating story whose drama has few equals in terms of sheer scale, scope, or human suffering and belief.
These 12 lectures invite you to go inside communism’s journey from a collection of political and economic theories to a revolutionary movement that rocked the world. Rich with historical insights, they zero in on the “how” and “why” of the Bolsheviks' rise to power and how communist ideas worked in theory and practice - and how they didn’t.
First, you’ll examine the utopian movements that influenced Marx and Engels, and how these leaders came to develop their revolutionary philosophies. From there, you’ll discover how Lenin became the first person to put Marxist ideas into action by violently seizing power in Russia during the chaos of the First World War. Throughout, you’ll meet thinkers and revolutionaries like Rosa Luxemburg and Leon Trotsky, unpack the meaning of texts like Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, and experience the shock and awe of events including the Paris Commune and the October Revolution.
An uncompromising look at one of the dominant political ideologies of the 20th century, this is a fascinating, and sobering, study of how theories rise to power in a bid to create a new civilization - whatever the human cost.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
What listeners say about The Rise of Communism: From Marx to Lenin
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Abel
- 2021-04-24
One of the most dishonest Great Courses lectures I’ve hear/seen
If you want to just confirm your own “communists are bad” bias, this lecture is for you.
On class 1, the lecturer states that without that train ride that took Lenin to Russia, the world wouldn’t have known Hittler, Mussolini, Second World War, Chinese Revolution, Korean War and more. This is not even balanced with the Racist, Imperialist, Colonialist horrors perpetrated by the West. It’s justifying cause for the reaction. Communism proposed an answer to the wrongs that happened before and kept going after.
Can we blame Lenin and Marx for all the crimes that happened before they were born too? Maybe slavery wouldn’t have happened if Lenin didn’t take that train ride too.
So from class 1 onwards the lectures go back and forth from historical facts to academic dishonesty. I did finish it regardless but if you’d like to have a balanced overview of the process this isn’t it.
23 people found this helpful
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- Cheesebodia
- 2020-01-18
The Rise of a Costly Idea
AT A GLANCE:
A valuable summary of a changing idea.
CONTENT:
This is a brief history on the beginnings of Communism as an ideology and its early implementation, beginning with pre-Marxist social theories and ending with the founding of the USSR. The course is structured chronologically and easy to follow; however, there is a good deal of repetition and overlap between lectures that should have been revised before release. I went into this knowing only the broadstrokes and feel that the content is highly useful for undergraduate-level purposes.
It must be said that the structure takes a nosedive in the last few lectures. After Lenin we are given a full-length lecture on Rosa Luxemburg; it seems like a time-filler and is loaded with a level of detail elsewhere given only to Marx. I accept that this series couldn't delve too deeply into the USSR as it will probably be its own follow-up course, but this does not excuse the lackluster ending. We finally receive a treatment of Radek, Serge, Zinoview, Bogdanov, Ho Chi Minh and Stalin only in the last two lectures! This feels extremely rushed, and the course should have been either longer or actually stopped at Lenin.
NARRATOR:
Prof. Liulevicius is a well-spoken and clear lecturer, if not particularly striking in his style. I would purchase another of his courses.
OVERALL:
Highly recommended for those unfamiliar with the basics of Communism and its historical beginnings. The accompanying PDF is highly useful and differs enough from the lectures to recommend reading it concurrently or on its own.
19 people found this helpful
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- Cody
- 2021-05-13
Author has a very obvious bias
The author tells history with a very heavy narrative influence. He often mocks those they disagree with in a way that would never be done in another Great Courses series. At points this is done to a degree that falsifies the history.
An example early on is the intentional mocking of Marx and Engels when they critiqued other socialist movements of the time as if Marx and Engels were the Intellectual Property owners of the concept of socialism.
12 people found this helpful
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- Larry
- 2020-10-07
Early Communism is the model for Democrat Radicals
I found that this clear and unbiased outline of the rise of a Communism was eye opening in joining together the aspects of Democrat radicalism that we hear about daily today. Violence, threats, mobs action, and a vanguard of shallow thinking followers determined to “pull it all down” are near exact replicas of their earlier Communist counterparts. It is a sobering reminder than the events of today are not spontaneous happenstance, but rather the fulfillment of warped minds with a purpose. Your subversion.
11 people found this helpful
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- Mark
- 2019-11-10
Scholarly, Detailed and Objective
In the second lecture of this series, Professor Liulevicius quotes a Prussian spy who described Marx’ eyes as “demonic.” Is this evidence of bias? Perhaps not, for in the same breath Liulevicius acknowledges Marx’ “genius,” “energy” and irresistible “intellectual superiority,” again quoting the Prussian agent.
For listeners not steeped in the scholarship of early Communism, this is a very well-crafted primer/refresher. Professor Liulevicius is a great storyteller and his skillful use of primary sources often allows the historical figures involved to speak for themselves.
22 people found this helpful
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- Trent Dale
- 2021-06-15
Disappointed
Extremely biased and skewed to show leftists views only in a negative light. The story is told without any disguise to the disgust the storyteller has towards communism. I expected more open thought from such academia.
10 people found this helpful
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- R. MacDonald
- 2021-06-25
communist history from your racist uncle
Mostly just biased but occasionally we're treated with things that are completely incorrect. the instructor first to stick to classic anti-communist tropes and describing a social movement as far more complex and ambiguous. these tropes in particular are of the extreme authoritarian nature of communism not only in its ideology but in the dispositions of its leaders. the religiosity of this supposedly secular movement is exceptional despite capitalism now crafting brands which promote consumption as religious experience and brand identification as spiritual fulfillment. I might revisit this later if I feel like taking notes and breaking down why this is so bad. if I don't mostly this review is for a young generation of socialists who are trying to understand Marxist leninism in a highly alienated capitalist society. To you I say this is a poor introduction to the topics you wish to understand it is in fact capitalist propaganda through and through. a quick way you can tell these things are this way aside from the tropes is no which leaders the author or instructor prefers and respects. capitalists love MLK and to some extent Malcolm x and now Fred Hampton and in Europe they love Rosa Luxembourg. the reason why they love the socialist is because more than any of their very worthy contributions to socialism they failed and were killed by capitalism making them perfect socialists.
6 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-08-14
Overview, no depth
this was a general overview of Marxism without in depth discussion of what true Marxism means or how it is to be achieved.
5 people found this helpful
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- Darrel Bishop
- 2019-12-17
An Objective History from Marx to Lenin
Disregard the bad review from 11/09/19.
I liked this overview of the roots and growth of Communism from Marx to Lenin. I read the review of another Audible listener (below) which gave a critical review of the lecture and called it "bad scholarship." It's clear the review author sees anything less than gushing praise for communism as right wing propaganda. As a historian, I found the scholarship to be on Paar with academic practices today. I found the lecture informative and objective and followed a logical course through the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. I would purchase another lecture from this professor.
16 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2020-01-03
Good work. Worth the time.
Interesting and informative. The jumps in time line might necessitate re-listening and/or lecture reading, but overall organized and engaging.
3 people found this helpful