Fear of Mirrors by Tariq Ali

Fear of Mirrors by Tariq Ali

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Fear of Mirrors by Tariq Ali

In this novel from esteemed political writer Tariq Ali, a father, Vlady, loses his job when he refuses to renounce socialist beliefs in the newly unified Germany--and as a result wants to explain to his alienated son what their family's long and passionate involvement with communism has really meant. The story he tells is of Ludwik, a Polish secret agent and Gertrude, Vlady's mother, whose desire for Ludwik is matched only by her devotion to the communist ideal. As the plot unfolds through the political upheavals of the twentieth century, Vlady describes the hopes aroused by the Bolshevik revolution and discovers the almost unbearable truth about the family's betrayal. Written with deep political insight and sensitivity, Fear of Mirrors relates the extraordinary history of Central Europe from the perspective of those on the other side of the Cold War.

Ali folds his drama around the tight, cultlike atmosphere of Communist Party life, peopled by idealists who find their lives encumbered by betrayals, power grabs, and corruption and who, in the post-Communist era, must come to terms with their complicity with Stalinism. . . . This is a valuable book, especially for those interested in the current thinking of the European left.--Publishers Weekly, on the first edition

Tariq Ali is a writer and a filmmaker. He has written five novels and over a dozen books on world history and politics. His latest is the acclaimed The Clash of Fundamentalism: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity. he is currently writing Bush in Babylon: Recolonizing Iraq. Howard Brenton was born in 1942 in Portsmouth, where his father was a policeman and a lay preacher. He had written several plays for the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the National Theatre before Romans in Britain (1980) was famously the cause of a failed prosecution by moral crusaders.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781900850100
ISBN 10 1900850109
Title Fear of Mirrors
Author Tariq Ali
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Arcadia Books
Year published 1998-08-04
Number of pages 240
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.