Category: Monthly Review Press Blog

New! “Shamrocks and Oil Slicks: A People’s Uprising Against Shell Oil in County Mayo, Ireland”

New! “Shamrocks and Oil Slicks: A People’s Uprising Against Shell Oil in County Mayo, Ireland”

Shell promised wonderful things…. But when the citizens of County Mayo realized what Shell actually intended to do, they rose up. Shamrocks & Oil Slicks tells the story of County Mayo—the fishermen, farmers, teachers, business people—who, motivated by love for their environment, their community, and their country, fought one of the planet’s most powerful destroyers to a standstill.

In no way a Stalinist apologist: Counterfire reviews “A Socialist Defector”

In no way a Stalinist apologist: Counterfire reviews “A Socialist Defector”

Many people have always doubted the starkness of the good West, evil East narrative. Perhaps as a result, since the collapse of the Stalinist states of eastern Europe, a concerted effort has been made to reinforce the notion that the East German state, the German Democratic Republic (DDR), in particular, was a dystopian police state morally equivalent to the Nazi regime…

“Magisterial Biography”: Morning Star reviews Heinrich’s “Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society”

“Magisterial Biography”: Morning Star reviews Heinrich’s “Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society”

In a short appendix to this first of what is to be a multi-volume biography of Karl Marx — which is bound to become a referential touchstone for any subsequent treatment of his life and works — Michael Heinrich examines how biographical writing is possible today and the reader should start with this essay in order to recognise the intentions and detailed scope of his treatment of Marx through his childhood and youth from 1818 to 1841…

Marx & Philosophy reviews “From Commune to Capitalism”

Marx & Philosophy reviews “From Commune to Capitalism”

What is remarkable about China’s agrarian reforms is that, despite their pivotal role in ending socialist production, some on the left have offered quite positive evaluations. ¶ Zhun Xu is a skeptic of these accounts….

Victor Grossman: From Harvard to East Berlin, via Jacobin

Victor Grossman: From Harvard to East Berlin, via Jacobin

The first book I wrote was published in East Berlin and talked about my life in the United States right up until the first days of my defection to the GDR in 1952. It was called The Way Across the Border. The funny thing is, some people in the GDR bought it thinking that I was talking about going in the other direction—they thought it would help them jump the Wall from East to West…

Caribbean Quarterly reviews Jane Franklin’s “Cuba and the U.S. Empire”

Caribbean Quarterly reviews Jane Franklin’s “Cuba and the U.S. Empire”

In this new edition, Franklin calls for persons to be a little more circumspect about the motivations for the ‘Cuban Thaw’, as it is known in the US. This is because Cuba-US relations are not simply a product of the Cold War, or a relict thereof; they are a barometer of American imperial politics since the 18th century. And as US imperialism continues to develop, attention to the rapprochement strategy is required, lest one overlook the changing social pacts and geo-political currents to which they are attuned….

KPFA: Africa Today talks to Gerald Horne about “Jazz and Justice”

KPFA: Africa Today talks to Gerald Horne about “Jazz and Justice”

Walter Turner, host of Africa Today, broadcasting weekly from Berkeley radio station KPFA, recently talked with historian Gerald Horne about one of his latest books, Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music. Please note that their conversation took place during a KPFA pledge drive, which is now over — although you’re more than welcome to support the station (and Africa Today) anytime…