Commies, Ronald Radosh
Commies, Ronald Radosh
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Commies
A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left

Author: Ronald Radosh

Narrator: Yuri Rasovsky

Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/01/2008

Categories: Nonfiction, History


Synopsis

Ronald Radoshs earliest memory is of being trundled off to a May Day demonstration by his Communist parents. Radosh grew up in the parallel universe of American Communism. When he entered the University of Wisconsin in the late 1950s, he became a founding father of the New Left and was on the center stage during the sixties. But if Commies is an intimate social history of the American Left over the past halfcentury, it is also a compelling story of a crisis of radical faith. In the early eighties, Radosh wrote the groundbreaking work The Rosenberg File, intending to prove the martyrs were innocent. But after examining government files, he became convinced of the Rosenbergs guilt. As the publication of his book provoked attacks and blacklisting from his former friends in the Left, Radosh began to question his past allegiances.

About Ronald Radosh

Ronald Radosh’s books include The Rosenberg File (with Joyce Milton); Divided They Fell: The Demise of the Democratic Party, 1964-1996; and The Amerasia Spy Case: Prelude to McCarthyism. Mr. Radosh lives with his wife and son in the Washington, DC, area.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David on February 08, 2010

quite interesting if you are familiar with the socialist left. He never really explains how he made the leap to being a rightwinger. He does claim that Ronald Reagan gave us full employment (unlike his former comrades Michael Harrington and Irving Howe). A lot of his criticism of the left is or seems le......more

Goodreads review by Nooilforpacifists on April 17, 2014

Similar to, but more succinct, than Horowitz's Radical Son, it details the author's political journey from lefty to conservative. Particularly excellent are his scholarly takes on the Rosenberg case (at 169; Rosenberg was a Soviet spy) and on Pete Seeger taking artistic direction from Joe Stalin (at......more

Goodreads review by Lee on March 22, 2018

The title misrepresents this book a little. It's a memoir of an old lefty, born red, and his journey towards leaving behind that perspective, with a lot of information on his personal role in those movements. Good as a condemnation of American communism, but still, it is just a memoir.......more

Goodreads review by Tom on March 08, 2018

Radosh has lead an interesting life. He presents events colored by his current views. Early in the book he implies that everyone on the left or anyone espousing a progressive point of view was a Communist. This is troubling.......more