David Priestland Explained
David Priestland is a British historian. He teaches modern history at the University of Oxford and is Fellow of St Edmund Hall.[1]
Career
Priestland's research focuses on the history of the Soviet Union and the development of communism and neoliberalism.[2] He is an occasional political and cultural commentator for The Guardian and New Statesman.[3] [4] In 2013, Priestland published a book Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A History of the World in Three Castes, which focuses mainly on a power struggle between three castes fighting for domination within society. Priestland's main argument is that humanity has shifted from societies oriented towards a warrior-class, through periods of sage dominance into a modern hegemony of merchants, which has culminated in dominance by businesspeople and billionaire entrepreneurs.[5] In the book, Priestland's voice is mostly critical of global capitalism, which has attracted some notable criticism from other academics.[6] [7]
Selected works
- Stalinism and The Politics of Mobilization: Ideas, Power, and Terror in Inter-War Russia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007
- The Red Flag. Allen Lane 2009, (The three English-language editions 2009-2010 each have different subtitles: How Communism Changed The World; Communism and the Making of the Modern World; A History of Communism)
- World History of Communism. From the French Revolution to today. Translated by Klaus-Dieter Schmidt. Siedler, Munich 2009,
- World History of Communism. Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn .
- Russian edition: Красный флаг . история коммунизма, Krasnyi flag: Istorija kommunizma, ЭКСМО / EKSMO, Moskva 2011
- Merchant, soldier, sage: a history of the world in three castes. New York: Penguin Press, 2013
External links
Notes and References
- News: Professor David Priestland. St Edmund Hall. 24 November 2018.
- News: Professor David Priestland. University of Oxford. 24 November 2018.
- News: David Priestland. The Guardian. 24 November 2018.
- News: Writer: David Priestland. New Statesman. 24 November 2018.
- Book: Priestland, David. Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A New History of Power. 2012-08-30. Penguin Books Limited. 978-0-14-197082-0. en.
- Web site: Priestland contends perpetual power struggle in Merchant, Soldier, Sage. The National. 25 October 2012. en. 2020-01-15.
- Timmins. Adam. review of Merchant Soldier Sage. en.