Includes bibliographical references (pages 465-507) and index.

Part I: Communism in theory
Karl Marx and the Utopians
The first international and the Bakunin Prophecy
The second international and the path not taken
Turning the armies red: Lenin updates Marx
The Bolsheviks take power
Part II: communism in practice
Communism in power
The communist international
Stalin resumes the communist offensive
High noon: communism from peak to trough, and back again
"People's democracy": communism behind the iron curtain
Mao's moment: communism arrives in Asia
"The world was turning in our direction": communism goes global
Red guards and the Khmer Rouge: communism ad absurdum
From selling Jews and Germans to sports summits, socialist feminism, and the Stasi: Cold War communism in action
Reckoning: communism under challenge, from Afghanistan and the Reagan Ratchet to Tiananmen Square

"In To Overthrow the World, Sean McMeekin investigates the evolution of Communism from a seductive ideal of a classless society into the ruling doctrine of tyrannical regimes. Tracing Communism's ascent from theory to practice, McMeekin ranges from Karl Marx's writings to the rise and fall of the USSR under Stalin to Mao's rise to power in China to the acceleration of Communist or Communist-inspired policies around the world in the twenty-first century. McMeekin argues, however, that despite the endurance of Communism, it remains deeply unpopular as a political form. Where it has arisen, it has always arisen by force"-- Provided by publisher.