Reflections on a Ravaged Century

Reflections on a Ravaged Century by Robert Conquest, 298 pages

Robert Conquest is firmly established as one of the finest historians of the Soviet Union, with his reputation benefiting rather than suffering in the long run from his clarity about the nature of the regime.  Reflections on a Ravaged Century is a look back at the twentieth century experience of totalitarianism, and at what made the Nazi and Soviet ideologies so appealing to so many, especially intellectuals.  Conquest begins with the understanding that the values which have guided Western civilization are neither self-evident nor universal, but rather appeal to a certain temperament encouraged by a certain culture, and he continues to warn against the danger of political enthusiasms, including those enthusiasms which present themselves as being coldly rational.  Finally, he considers what the new century might hold, fearing current trends which point towards a future where the interests of big government and big business converge to establish the servile state.

It is a cliche that everything changed after 9/11, and it is certainly impossible to read a speculative book from 1999 without some sense of disconnection.  Likewise, this book was written before Putin took over from Yeltsin, so that the shape of post-Soviet Russia was still very fluid, with the strong possibility of a far left or far right government in the near future.  It is remarkable, however, how much the currents flowing beneath the surface have continued despite the unforeseen - despite momentous changes, in 1989 as in 2001, there is much that has not changed.