The Black Book of Communism

About “The Black Book of Communism”

"Revolutions, like trees, must be judged by their fruit," wrote Ignazio Silone, and this principle guides the authors as they examine the Communist experience in several countries, including China under Mao, North Korea under Kim Il Sung, Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, Cuba under Fidel Castro, Ethiopia under Mengistu Haile Mariam, Angola under Agostinho Neto, and Afghanistan under Najibullah. The authors, European scholars, document the crimes against humanity committed under Communist regimes, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage, such as the closure of churches in Moscow under Stalin and the destruction of historic areas in Bucharest under Ceausescu. They also highlight the cultural devastation caused by Mao's Red Guards in China. The book presents a detailed account of the human cost of Communism, citing high death tolls in the Soviet Union, China, and Cambodia, and showing how the ideology led to crime, terror, and repression wherever it was implemented.