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A review by saareman
Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them) by Jack Posobiec
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
2.0
<b>This is What They Do</b>
<i>A review of the Skyhorse Publishing / War Room Books kindle ebook (July 9, 2024) released simultaneously with the hardcover and following the earlier (June 26, 2024) release of the audiobook.</i>
I am as anti-communist as the next Estonian or other person of Eastern European origin whose family escaped the post World War II totalitarian terror of Soviet Russia and who had family as far back as 1917 murdered by the Bolsheviks. But Posobiec and his ghostwriter Lisec are doing the cause no favours with the nose-stretchers and the twisted views of the historical record in this propaganda tract.
I was curious about this as it was issued under the name of the right-wing agitator Posobiec and by the Steve Bannon inspired imprint The War Room in the lead up to the November 2024 American election. Although the MAGA chants and the various Commie-la aspersions are not used in the book, the unspoken bias and condemnation can be read between the lines. I wasn't prepared to pay the shockingly high list price for the book, but a Kindle Deal of the Day price of $3.99 on August 30, 2024 was just the ticket.
The rather bold use of the title <b>Unhumans</b>, which echoes Nazi Germany's use of the term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch">Untermenschen</a> (<i>German</i>: Under humans / Sub humans) for their non-Aryan subjects or foes, sets the stage. But there are various eye-opening allusions to come before we even get to the 20th century Communist terrors.
Without being very specific, even Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon is held up as an early example of a statesman putting down a proto-communist uprising. The French Revolution and the subsequent years of The Terror is used as another example of early communism. But probably the biggest shock is the portrayal of the Spanish dictatorship of Franco as a saviour of democracy.
Not all of it is untrue of course. There is no doubting the Red Terror of Lenin and Stalin, the decimation of the Chinese population by Mao Zedong, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, etc. But exaggerating the case and stretching it into making anti-Communist heroes out of Caesar, Napoleon, Franco, etc. is just way over the top.
So this should be read with a ton of salt and a look at some legitimate history books before making any conclusions.
<b>Footnote</b> I took my lede from the refrain "This is what they do," which is repeated no less than 69 times (according to my kindle count) after each stated example in this book of how communists act or react.
<b>Other Reviews</b>
I noticed that the review by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6760273627">Arthur Rodriguez</a> gives a lengthy rebuttal to the story of portraying Franco's totalitarian regime as democratic liberators and freedom fighters.
<i>A review of the Skyhorse Publishing / War Room Books kindle ebook (July 9, 2024) released simultaneously with the hardcover and following the earlier (June 26, 2024) release of the audiobook.</i>
I am as anti-communist as the next Estonian or other person of Eastern European origin whose family escaped the post World War II totalitarian terror of Soviet Russia and who had family as far back as 1917 murdered by the Bolsheviks. But Posobiec and his ghostwriter Lisec are doing the cause no favours with the nose-stretchers and the twisted views of the historical record in this propaganda tract.
I was curious about this as it was issued under the name of the right-wing agitator Posobiec and by the Steve Bannon inspired imprint The War Room in the lead up to the November 2024 American election. Although the MAGA chants and the various Commie-la aspersions are not used in the book, the unspoken bias and condemnation can be read between the lines. I wasn't prepared to pay the shockingly high list price for the book, but a Kindle Deal of the Day price of $3.99 on August 30, 2024 was just the ticket.
The rather bold use of the title <b>Unhumans</b>, which echoes Nazi Germany's use of the term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch">Untermenschen</a> (<i>German</i>: Under humans / Sub humans) for their non-Aryan subjects or foes, sets the stage. But there are various eye-opening allusions to come before we even get to the 20th century Communist terrors.
Without being very specific, even Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon is held up as an early example of a statesman putting down a proto-communist uprising. The French Revolution and the subsequent years of The Terror is used as another example of early communism. But probably the biggest shock is the portrayal of the Spanish dictatorship of Franco as a saviour of democracy.
Not all of it is untrue of course. There is no doubting the Red Terror of Lenin and Stalin, the decimation of the Chinese population by Mao Zedong, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, etc. But exaggerating the case and stretching it into making anti-Communist heroes out of Caesar, Napoleon, Franco, etc. is just way over the top.
So this should be read with a ton of salt and a look at some legitimate history books before making any conclusions.
<b>Footnote</b> I took my lede from the refrain "This is what they do," which is repeated no less than 69 times (according to my kindle count) after each stated example in this book of how communists act or react.
<b>Other Reviews</b>
I noticed that the review by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6760273627">Arthur Rodriguez</a> gives a lengthy rebuttal to the story of portraying Franco's totalitarian regime as democratic liberators and freedom fighters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Violence