Rise of Socialist Interest Among Young Americans in the 21st Century
In the early 2020s, a significant number of young Americans began to show renewed interest in socialist ideas and the history of communism in the United States. This surge in curiosity coincided with the political rise of leftwing figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In response, historian Maurice Isserman, with a background in American communism studies, revisited his earlier works on the subject and published a new book titled "Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism" in May 2024.
The book explores the history of the Communist Party USA from its founding in 1919 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Maurice Isserman had previously interviewed several ageing communists and ex-communists for his works in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these individuals had initially joined the party during the Great Depression and later organized unions or fought in international conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War.
A significant number of these early communists eventually left the movement, particularly after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 speech condemning Joseph Stalin's regime. Despite their initial strong beliefs, many former communists lived reflective lives in their later years, acknowledging their past mistakes and the movement's fundamental flaws. Maurice Isserman’s new work aims to offer a balanced historical perspective on their experiences, highlighting their idealism and the eventual disillusionment with the Soviet model. The book emphasizes the complex and often contradictory nature of American communism in the 20th century.