A short and excellent book by an expert in foreign relations. When it was written there was a great need for a summary for the American people, to put the Communist issue and Russian history in context. Thirty years later it is equally vital that Americans learn this history. Who better to tell it ?

As I reread this book there are two things that standout. Brzezinski sounds as harsh as Dulles on the Evils, EVILS of Russian communism. But then comes the section on China, entitled, even in 1988 "Commercial Communism" His quick run through the political history of China since 1911 is an excellent summary of a very complicated process and from the perspective of 2010 is right on target. ( )

2408 The Grand Failure: The Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century, by Zbigniew Brzezinski (read 8 Sep 1991) This was written in 1988 and published in 1989--before the tumultuous and stunning events of the fall of 1989. It is a most perceptive and far-sighted book. He does not forecast the events of 1989 to 1991, but he is definite in stating that Communism has failed. He says Chinese Communism is not failing but it is commercialized and not really Leninist. This is an excellent book, and as worth reading now as it would have been in 1989. ( )