Publisher's Synopsis
Communist parties came to power in a variety of ways, usually by force, often with the acquiescence of people who hoped for a better future. Then came the imposition of Stalinism. This book examines all this, and subsequent crises in Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Declining communist morale, rising dissent, economic failure and the changing role of the Soviet Union are given their due place. Finally, the mechanism of the collapse of communism in 1989 is laid bare.
