The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and Their Century | Date: 28 April 2011, 06:26
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The Last Revolutionaries: German Communists and Their Century
By Catherine Epstein
* Publisher: Harvard University Press
* Number Of Pages: 352
* Publication Date: 2003-04-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0674010450
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780674010451
Product Description:
The Last Revolutionaries tells a story of unwavering political devotion: it follows the lives of German communists across the tumultuous twentieth century. Before 1945, German communists were political outcasts in the Weimar Republic and courageous resisters in Nazi Germany; they also suffered Stalin's Great Purges and struggled through emigration in countries hostile to communism. After World War II, they became leaders of East Germany, where they ran a dictatorial regime until they were swept out of power by the people's revolution of 1989.
In a compelling collective biography, Catherine Epstein conveys the hopes, fears, dreams, and disappointments of a generation that lived their political commitment. Focusing on eight individuals, The Last Revolutionaries shows how political ideology drove people's lives. Some of these communists, including the East German leaders Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker, enjoyed great personal success. But others, including the purge victims Franz Dahlem and Karl Schirdewan, experienced devastating losses. And, as the book demonstrates, female and Jewish communists faced their own sets of difficulties in the movement to which they had given their all.
Drawing on previously inaccessible sources as well as extensive personal interviews, Epstein offers an unparalleled portrait of the most enduring and influential generation of Central European communists. In the service of their party, these communists experienced solidarity and betrayal, power and persecution, sacrifice and reward, triumph and defeat. At once sordid and poignant, theirs is the story of European communism--from the heroic excitement of its youth, to the bureaucratic authoritarianism of its middle age, to the sorry debacle of its death.
Summary: A book of much wider relevance than its title implies.
Rating: 5
Professor Epstein's THE LAST REVOLUTIONARIES contains sage insights on the profound dedication Old Communists maintained to their secular religious cause - communism. As she rightly concludes (p. 266): "For longtime communists...it was all-knowing, all-consuming, and all giving. To harm, challenge, or leave that body was beyond the ken of the vast majority of veteran communists. Communism was their raison d'etre; to break with their faith would have dissolved the master narrative of their lives into countless meaningless episodes." The author, who was on the scene during the optimum time just after the dust had settled from the collapse of the GDR and the surviving veteran communists had come to realize what had happened, interviewed dozens of them and researched the lives of hundreds more. This is a book of much wider relevance than its title implies. For anyone interested in understanding an all-consuming dedication to a cause - whatever its political or religious basis - this is definitely a must-read book!
Summary: inflated claims
Rating: 1
This work is not particularly interesting, really not much more than a sympathizer's tribute. And, as I can personally attest, she is not particularly effective as a lecturer.
Summary: A Brilliant Work
Rating: 5
Catherine Epstein is a Professor at Amherst College, the number one Liberal Arts College in the country, and this book shows how she rose to such a position. It is thoroughly researched, incisive, novel, and extraordinarily written. With this book, Epstein shows that she is an emerging leader in her field, soon to be both respected by her colleagues and known to the public, as well. I only wish that I could be a student in one of her classes; if she is half as brilliant in person as she is in this book, she must be one of the most beloved professors on campus.
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