Archie Brown is a British political scientist and historian. He is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University and Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. A Fellow of the British Academy since 1991, Professor Brown was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003. He has written widely on Soviet and Communist politics, the Cold War, and political leadership.
Superb...a hugely readable book -- Simon Heffer Daily Telegraph At its peak, communism controlled one third of the human race...Brown's scholarly, well-paced and critical overview contributes brilliantly to a reasoned reassessment Sunday Times His account is studied with delightfully pertinent and pithy personal observations and anecdotes ...as a single-volume account of mankind's biggest mistake, Mr Brown's book is hard to beat The Economist To understand one of the central stories of the 20th century - read Brown's book Independent The breadth of his scholarship and research is hugely impressive... Brown offers clever insights, as well as some fascinating new revelations Evening Standard