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Every book Vejas Liulevicius recommended on podcasts
Vejas Liulevicius appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast to discuss the historical sweep of totalitarian regimes, communism, Marxism, and Nazism. Drawing on his deep historical expertise, Liulevicius recommended several foundational and literary works that illuminate the realities of the 20th century. He highlighted Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago as a powerful depiction of revolutionary power vacuums, and recommended Orlando Figes's The Whisperers for its harrowing depiction of family histories under Joseph Stalin. Additionally, he praised Whittaker Chambers's memoir Witness as one of the most remarkable books of the 20th century regarding espionage and political disillusionment, and recommended Robertson Davies's The Deptford Trilogy as a masterful work of fiction. Throughout the discussion, Liulevicius also analyzed primary source texts and historical milestones, emphasizing Adolf Hitler's ideology in Mein Kampf, the impact of The Communist Manifesto, and the conceptual parallels between Karl Marx's Das Kapital and Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species.
Books recommended by Vejas Liulevicius
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Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago is a monumental classic novel of the Russian Revolution that captures the sweeping political turmoil and tragic romance of its central characters amidst a power vacuum.
Recommended“there's few works of literature that are as powerful as Boris Pasternak's, "Doctor Zhivago" for giving just the whole sweep of contending forces in a power vacuum.”
Where to get it
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The Deptford Trilogy
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies is a celebrated three-novel series by the renowned Canadian author.
Recommended“And he's most famous probably for "The Deptford Trilogy," three novels in a series that are linked, and they're just masterful. If only there were more books like that.”
Where to get it
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The Whisperers
The Whisperers by Orlando Figes is a historical work that documents the lives of several families surviving through the Stalin period in the Soviet Union.
Recommended“Orlando Figes has a amazing book called "The Whisperers," that traces several families' history in the Stalin period.”
Where to get it
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Witness
Witness by Whittaker Chambers is a 1952 autobiographical account by a former American communist and Soviet spy who later broke with those allegiances.
Recommended“One of the most amazing books of the 20th century is the book written by Whittaker Chambers, who had served as a Soviet spy. First a committed communist, then a Soviet spy, and then later a renegade from those allegiances. His book is entitled, "Witness," it published in 1952, and it's one of the most compelling books you could ever”
Where to get it
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Das Capital Volume One
Das Capital Volume One by Karl Marx is a foundational theoretical text in economics, philosophy, and sociology that critiques capitalism and the dynamics of commodity production.
Discussed“"Das Kapital" is intended to be the "Origin of Species" of its realm of economic thought and represents years and years of work of Marx laboring in the British Museum Library, working through statistics, working on little bits and pieces of a larger answer to big historical questions that he believes that he's arrived at.”
Where to get it
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Main currents of Marxism
Discussed“the Polish philosopher, Leszek Kolakowski, who was at first a committed communist and then later became disillusioned and wrote a three volume study of Marxist thought called "Currents of Marxism."”
Where to get it
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Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler is a notorious autobiographical manifesto detailing the political ideology and future plans of the Nazi dictator.
Discussed“To try to analyze Hitler's acts or alleged motives in the absence of the ideology that he himself subscribed to and described in hateful detail in "Mein Kampf" and other manifestos and speeches, is an enterprise that's doomed to failure, justifiably.”
Where to get it
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The Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx is a foundational political pamphlet that outlines the core tenets of Marxism and critiques capitalist society.
Discussed“"The Communist Manifesto" moreover, is also something of the nature of having a delayed fuse, you could say. Because when it first appears amid the revolutions of 1848 that sweep across Europe,”
Where to get it
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The Gulag Archipelago
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn is a monumental, multi-volume literary and historical investigation into the Soviet forced labor camp system.
Discussed“Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" is full of stories of dedicated communists who find themselves in the gulag”
Where to get it
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The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin is a foundational scientific text that introduced the theory of evolution by means of natural selection, forever altering humanity's understanding of the natural world.
Discussed“"Das Kapital" is intended to be the "Origin of Species" of its realm of economic thought and represents years and years of work of Marx laboring in the British Museum Library, working through statistics, working on little bits and pieces of a larger answer to big historical questions that he believes that he's arrived at.”
Where to get it
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The prince
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is a foundational political treatise that outlines practical strategies for acquiring and maintaining power.
Discussed“It gets said about Stalin that he used to spend a lot of time flipping through Machiavelli's "The Prince."”
Where to get it
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What is to be done?
What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky is a nineteenth-century Russian philosophical novel that famously explored utopian ideals and radical social reform.
Discussed“Among them was Nikolay Chernyshevsky, who wrote, what's been called, the worst book ever written. It was in fact one of Lenin's favorite books, in Russian it's (speaking in Russian). In English it gets translated "What is to Be Done?"”
Where to get it
Books Vejas Liulevicius wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #444 – Vejas Liulevicius: Communism, Marxism, Nazism, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2024-09-20 | 16 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“My second book, which is entitled "The German Myth of the East," which appeared with Oxford University Press,”