Here is a new book from a first time author who, though only a high school graduate, has written some controversial yet intelligent opinions on an array of political matters. Mr. Phillips presents us with a thought-provoking analysis on sundry topical and philosophical issues. His is an intriguing book that anybody of any political stripe will find a fascinating read. Mr. Phillips has written a cerebrally stimulating collection of essays and random thoughts that anyone with just a junior high school education to a person with a PhD from Harvard, will find to be extremely interesting and educational. But be forewarned, the conservatism of his book is more than just contentious; it’s outright iconoclastic and subversive. And although the writings of Mr. Phillips are an absolute joy to read, it’s entirely possible that they could wreck psychological havoc on the intellectually dishonest. “Hyperbole”, say you. Maybe it is....but then again, maybe it isn’t.
No scholar denies Mikhail S. Gorbachev's role in developing a new approach to Soviet socialism, but most writers emphasize the radical departure from traditional Soviet ideology that perestroika seemed to represent. This work presents perestroika as part of the continuum of European intellectual history. It examines the sources of Gorbachev's thinking and action in 19th-century thought, the development of Russian Marxism through the intellectual crisis at the turn of the 20th century, the pragmatic and philosophical challenges to the Marxist-Leninist paradigm, Stalinism and its critics, and reform Communism in post World War II Eastern Europe. Against this background, the book argues that the decline and fall of Soviet Communism was much more deeply connected with ideological issues than most scholars have realized. Bandelin presents fresh analyses of the impacts of major works and ideas, such as Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, the neglected Marxian concept of the Asiatic mode of production, and the underlying relationship of East European reform Communism to perestroika. He analyzes the major intellectual trends of perestroika in terms of these and other currents. This study offers a perspective that challenges most of current scholarship on the issues it raises, suggests new avenues for research, and contributes to a broader overall understanding of the problems of Soviet socialism and Gorbachev's effort to solve them.
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