The Wasted Generation: Memoirs Of The Romanian Journey From Capitalism To Socialism And Back

by Silviu Brucan

Overview

My generation in Eastern Europe was caught in the middle of two revolutions (1944 and 1989), which instead of moving history ahead pushed it backward. We thus at first made a U-turn-a tortuous one, to be sure-from underdeveloped capitalism to underdeveloped socialism, but because socialism and underdevelopment are strange bedfellows,we have since discovered we were on the wrong path and are trying now to return to where we started. The drama of that generation is what this book is about.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367297152
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Pages:	227
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction — 1 What Made Him Flee — 2 The Origins of Social Revolt — 3 A Unique Historical Event: Conspiracy Between King and Communists — 4 The Stalinist Faith — 5 The National Backlash — 6 The Two Faces of Communist Society — 7 Red Diplomat in Washington — 8 The Illiterate Couple — 9 The Prelude of the Romanian Revolution — 10 The Inside Story of the Revolution — 11 The Day After — Epilogue — Notes — Chronology of Events — International Perspectives: A Collection of Media and Policy Discussion — Index and List of Prominent Romanians — About the Book and Author.

Editorial Reviews

Twice placed under house arrest, Brucan was a leading strategist of the populist forces that toppled the regime of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. Filled with dramatic incidents, political revelations and vivid details, this striking memoir candidly charts the author's transformation from staunch Stalinist to severe critic of Soviet-style communism. Brucan, today a social sciences professor at the University of Bucharest, gives a firsthand account of the extraordinary 1944 coup in which Romania's King Michael, in a conspiracy with communists, turned his country against its former ally, Nazi Germany. Brucan, who served as Romania's ambassador to the U.S. and the UN, re-creates the secret meeting between former Romanian president Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nikita Khrushchev that led the latter to pull Soviet troops out of Romania. In Brucan's assessment, the working class is the real loser in contemporary Romania's abrupt transition to a market economy, as manipulative entrepreneurs reap the prizes and privileges of the new society. Photos. (Oct.)

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