PAPERBACKS

Press, Issue 31095, 25 June 1966, Page 4

PAPERBACKS

The Left in Europe Since 1789. By David Caute. 242 pp. Bibliography and Index.

Chinese Communism. By Robert C. North. 237 pp. Bibliography and Index. Both published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson: World University Library.

These two additions to a relatively new paperback series are handsomely produced. "Chinese Communism” is a useful general history of China from 1800 to the present day. It is profusely illustrated and has a detailed chronology as well as an extensive collection of biographical notes, particularly convenient for a student approaching the complexities of Chinese names and events for the first time. The text is concise and accurate, though at times a little oversimplified. It is a suitable first text for any study of contemporary China, rather than a contribution to a more detailed examination.

“The Left in Europe Since 1789” breaks relatively new ground, though again at the price of occasional oversimplifications. The author, a 30-year-old Oxford scholar, has attempted a history of the many parallels and contradictions which have marked left-wing movements in Europe since the French Revolution. He has paid particular attention to the perennial dilemmas —revolution or reform, dictatorship or democracy—and has also attempted a relatively sympathetic assessment of the record of left-wing parties when in power. The result is valuable in bringing together many streams of European history which, while closely connected, are usually studied separately. An enormous range of illustrations form one of the book’s most attractive features. There are reproductions of manifestos and propaganda posters from the last 100 years, as well as photographs of important socialist figures from Michael Bakunin to Bela Kun. These enhance Mr Caute’s vigorous text, but on occasion the space might have been better used to elaborate the complexities of the events described.