A condensed historical account of Communism in theory and practice by Pipes, an influential Harvard historian who has written many books on the Russian Revolution and Soviet state, and is known as a staunch right-wing anti-communist. Unsurprisingly he rejects whole scale the idea that there was or is anything redeemable in the political and social aims of communism. Can be read as a counterpart to the more left-leaning The Rise and Fall of Communism by Archie Brown.