REDS

This new history of the Communist Party USA reveals a quagmire of contradictions, paradoxes, and disputes.

The CPUSA has often seemed like an extended exercise in self-delusion, with a few elements of genuine reform and criminal conspiracy thrown in. The party, writes Isserman, a professor of American history and author of The Winter Army and Continental Divide, was “an advocacy group entitled to normal constitutional guarantees of free speech, and at certain times and places it was also a criminal conspiracy.” The author explains how many people were attracted by its rhetoric of impending victory heralding a brave new world, and he highlights the gap between the democratic language and the authoritarian reality. The Soviet Union was admired to the point of reverence by members of the Communist Party, which continued even after the waves of Stalinist purges and slaughters were revealed. There was a strong sense of a disconnection from reality, although Isserman points out that during the Depression, the CPUSA, operating through the union movement, won important gains for workers. He does not shy away from the conclusive evidence that there were communists who engaged in espionage for the Soviet Union and that the party was effectively subsidized by the Kremlin. After the 1960s, the party became increasingly marginal, lost in nostalgia and internal squabbles. This is an interesting story of rise and fall, although sometimes Isserman gets bogged down in details. Moreover, there are other areas that he could have explored further, including the impact of the split between the Soviet Union and China, or the real influence of socialist-type ideology on politicians such as Bernie Sanders. Perhaps the author saved some material for a subsequent book. If so, it will be a sequel worth reading.

A comprehensive study of one of the key players in the development of America’s political landscape.