Communism’s Origin, History, and Future: Historian Sean McMeekin’s New Book

To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism is the latest in what is now a series of provocative, blockbuster histories from Sean McMeekin, who is currently Francis Flournoy Professor of European History at Bard College. (Full disclosure: I attended Bard College for a few years, long before McMeekin arrived.) The book tracks the origins and impulses behind communist ideals and outlines its theoretical birth by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and its subsequent political life — from triumph to disaster and back again. It is sweeping — carrying the reader across 19th-century Europe and 20th-century Asia — authoritative, fun, and frightening to read.

I asked McMeekin whether we could conduct a print interview to celebrate this release, and he graciously agreed.

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Communism

To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism is the latest in what is now a series of provocative, blockbuster histories from Sean McMeekin, who is currently Francis Flournoy Professor of European History at Bard College. (Full disclosure: I attended Bard College for a few years, long before McMeekin arrived.) The book tracks the origins and impulses behind communist ideals and outlines its theoretical birth by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and its subsequent political life — from triumph to disaster and back again. It is sweeping — carrying the reader across 19th-century Europe and 20th-century Asia — authoritative, fun, and frightening to read.

I asked McMeekin whether we could conduct a print interview to celebrate this release, and he graciously agreed.