Busky explores the very beginnings of communist thought and practice in utopian socialism and early communist communes thousands of years before the words socialism and communsim were even coined. In meticulous detail, utopian wrings and communes are described down through the ages to the present. Busky also explains Marxian philosophy and economics, the ideas of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin, the Russian Revolution, and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.



A highly referenced work, this book serves as a genuine research tool. Biographies of all of the key communists are given, including Marx and Engels, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, and many more. The volume is particularly notable for its scope in discussing the lives and writings of utopian socialists and early communists before Marx. With voluminous notes, the volume is completed with a strong bibliograpy of the major works in utopian socialism, Marxism, socialist and communist history, and the history of the Soviet Union. Of particular value to students and scholars involved with socialist and communist history and theory, Russian history, and comparative politics.