BRZEZIŃSKI Zbigniew - The Great Bankruptcy. The Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century [First Edition Paris 1990].

Paris 1990 Literary Institute. Series: Library of "Culture", vol. 456. 13.5x21.5 cm, pp. 276, (4), softcover. Very good condition.

First edition. Translated by Krystyna Tarnowska and Andrzej Konarek.

"This is a book about the final crisis of communism. It contains a description and analysis of the progressive decay and increasing agony of both the system itself and its ideology. (...) The book's argumentation is presented in six parts. The first advances the thesis that the key to the historical tragedy of communism is the political and socio-economic fiasco of the Soviet system. The second examines in more depth recent Soviet attempts to reform and revitalize that system, concluding that success here is less likely than further internal decay or confusion. The third discusses the consequences of the imposition of communism on Eastern Europe and concludes that this region, in the wake of the Polish liberation movement, has begun to free itself from the communist systems imposed on it by the Soviets. The fourth deals with China's experience, with its indigenous variant of communism, and concludes that the chances of successful reform in that country are increasing as its leaders renounce established doctrines. The fifth part focuses attention on the ideological and political twilight of international communism's abstractness. The sixth and final part provides a broader discussion of the agony of communism and the likely phenomena of the post-communist era." [from the introduction]