Ana Pauker - by Robert Levy (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This is not a psychodrama. Rather, this is a sociopolitical tragedy, extremely valuable, deeply researched, and fascinating. There is very little that is as important as this book about any of the top communist leaders other than the most famous ones such as Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. . . .The subject is so important, the book so well done and so revealing, and the human interest so compelling, Levy's book will become one of the essential works on the history of communism in Eastern Europe."--Daniel Chirot, author of "Modern Tyrants"
"This outstanding, thought-provoking political biography of one of the most prominent figures of European communism offers an original and balanced approach to Pauker's contradictory role in the history of both Romanian and international communism. . . . Engagingly written and very convincingly structured, this is not a dry historical account but a vivid reconstruction of a turbulent political life."--Vladimir Tismaneanu, author of "Fantasies of Salvation"

Book Synopsis

In her own day, Ana Pauker was named "The Most Powerful Woman in the World" by Time magazine. Today, when she is remembered at all, she is thought of as the puppet of Soviet communism in Romania, blindly enforcing the most brutal and repressive Stalinist regime. Robert Levy's new biography changes the picture dramatically, revealing a woman of remarkable strength, dominated by conflict and contradiction far more than by dogmatism. Telling the story of Pauker's youth in an increasingly anti-Semitic environment, her commitment to a revolutionary career, and her rise in the Romanian Communist movement, Levy makes no attempt to whitewash Pauker's life and actions, but rather explores every contour of the complicated persona he found expressed in masses of newly accessible archival documents.

From the Back Cover

"This is not a psychodrama. Rather, this is a sociopolitical tragedy, extremely valuable, deeply researched, and fascinating. There is very little that is as important as this book about any of the top communist leaders other than the most famous ones such as Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. . . .The subject is so important, the book so well done and so revealing, and the human interest so compelling, Levy's book will become one of the essential works on the history of communism in Eastern Europe."--Daniel Chirot, author of Modern Tyrants

"This outstanding, thought-provoking political biography of one of the most prominent figures of European communism offers an original and balanced approach to Pauker's contradictory role in the history of both Romanian and international communism. . . . Engagingly written and very convincingly structured, this is not a dry historical account but a vivid reconstruction of a turbulent political life."--Vladimir Tismaneanu, author of Fantasies of Salvation

Review Quotes

"Drawing extensively on never before available archival materials, Levy provides a detailed and nuanced portrait of this Romanian communist leader who played a major, international role during the early days of the Cold War."--"Choice

About the Author

Robert Levy completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1998.