The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism

by George Weigel

Book Overview

The collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe--the Revolution of 1989--was a singularly stunning event in a century already known for the unexpected. How did people divided for two generations by an Iron Curtain come so suddenly to dance together atop the Berlin Wall? Why did people who had once seemed resigned to their fate suddenly take their future into their own hands? Some analysts have explained the Revolution in economic terms, arguing...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195071603
• ISBN13: 9780195071603
• Release Date: November 1992
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A thorough, fascinating, scholarly book, easy to read.

This book tells the fascinating story of the role of the church, particularly the Roman Catholic church, in the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This subject has received precious little coverage in the popular press, but cannot be ignored by serious students of history. The author takes the position that it was neither Mikhail Gorbachev, nor Ronald Reagan alone that did it (brought down the Yalta imperial system), but the undeniable and inexorable faith of many Christians throughout Europe. The collapse of Communism had its roots in the early work of Pope Pius, Pope John XXIII, Paul VI and finally the Polish pastor/dramatist/linguist Karol Woytyla, who became Pope John Paul II. The close identification of Catholicism with the Polish history kept the national character alive and ultimately denied the power of tyranny in Poland and elsewhere. I recommend this book to anyone who is skeptical of the biases of the press