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It was the year of the glorious Battle of Britain, of the heroic evacuation of Dunkirk. It was the time when the mighty British empire declared its intention to fight the Nazis-alone if necessary-to the bitter end. It was, as Churchill dubbed it, Britain's "Finest Hour." In 1940: Myth and Reality, Clive Ponting reveals that it was nothing of the so...
Aaron Bastani
Jan 21, 2021The People's Republic of Walmart
How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism (Jacobin)
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Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporationsFor the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the ultimate expressions of free-market capitalism. Their remarkable success appears to vindicate the ol...
Aaron Bastani
Dec 07, 2020The Romance of American Communism
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Writer and critic Vivian Gornick's classic exploring how Left politics gave depth and meaning to American life."Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class." So begins Vivian Gornick's exploration of how the world of socialists, communists, and progressives in the 1940s and 1950s created a rich, diverse...
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Corey Robin'Forget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain ... You will not find a better informed history' David Goodhart, Evening Standard'A striking new perspective on our past' Piers Brendon, Literary ReviewFrom the acclaimed author of...
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Duncan WeldonThe Jakarta Method
Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World
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The hidden story of the wanton slaughter -- in Indonesia, Latin America, and around the world -- backed by the United States. In 1965, the U.S. government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians. This was one of the most important turning points of the twentieth century, eliminating the largest communist par...
Aaron Bastani
Sep 19, 2020What does the COVID 19 tell us about the climate breakdown, and what should we do about it? The economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been unprecedented. Governments have spoken of being at war and find themselves forced to seek new powers in order to maintain social order and prevent the spread of the virus. This is often exer...
Aaron Bastani
Aug 19, 2020The History Thieves
Secrets, Lies and the Shaping of a Modern Nation [Paperback] [Jul 06, 2017] Ian Cobain
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In 1889, the first Official Secrets Act was passed and created offences of 'disclosure of information' and 'breach of official trust'. It limited and monitored what the public could, and should, be told. Since then, Britain's governments and civil service have been engaged in the greatest identity fraud of all time - the dishonest and manufactured ...
Aaron Bastani
Jul 17, 2020Who concealed a torture centre in London during WWII?Who pioneered hooding, stress positions, starvation, sleep deprivation and white noise?Who knew about the US programme of extraordinary rendition just five days after 9/11?Whose government is still trying to prevent the truth from being heard in open court today?It's time to challenge the assumpt...
Aaron Bastani
Jul 17, 2020The Socialist Manifesto
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A "razor-sharp" introduction to this political and economic ideology makes a galvanizing argument for modern socialism (Naomi Klein) -- and explains how its core tenets could effect positive change in America and worldwide.In The Socialist Manifesto, Bhaskar Sunkara explores socialism's history since the mid-1800s and presents a realistic vision fo...
Aaron Bastani
May 16, 2019Also recommended by
Waleed Shahid