The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

During the twentieth century, an estimated 25 million people died under Soviet rule. Under Communist Chinese rule, the death toll was even higher—perhaps 65 million dead. This international bestseller (published in 1999) was the historic first attempt by a group of scholars (many of them former Communists) to compile a history of Communism’s crimes and terrors during the twentieth century, based on freshly released archives from the Soviet bloc. It was also an attempt to dignify the millions whose deaths have, until recently, remained state secrets.