Gleason examines the history of totalitarianism as a model for explaining twentieth-century political systems, beginning with the term's inception in Fascist Italy, through its influence on American foreign policy and scholarship during the cold war, to its current significance in political debate and policy worldwide. Originally published in 1995.

Introduction One.: Fascist Origins Two.: A New Kind of State: Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union in the 1930s Three.: Wartime in the English-Speaking World Four.: The Cold War Five.: Brainwashing: Communist China as a Totalitarian State Six.: Searching for the Origins of Totalitarianism Seven.: "Totalitarianism" Among the Sovietologists Eight.: The Cold War in Postwar Europe: France, Italy, and Germany Nine.: The Cold War in Eastern Europe Ten.: The "Evil Empire" Epilogue. The Russians Call Themselves Totalitarian Notes Index

Gleason... has now written a full survey of the shifts in meaning the word 'totalitarianism' has undergone. New York Times Book review A fundamental work that reflects on the history of the past half century ... An essential, fascinating, and thought-provoking work of intellectual history. Kirkus Reviews

"A full survey of the shifts in meaning the word 'totalitarianism' has undergone--from its invention in Fascist Italy in the 1920s to its recent adoption by Russian intellectuals to describe the Communism under which they lived before 1991."--The New York Times Book Review "Gleason has given us the contemporary equivalent of Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism....An essential, fascinating, and thought-provoking work of intellectual history."--Kirkus Reviews "A perceptive and wide-ranging history of the term and the idea of 'totalitarianism,' in the context of the cold war and beyond.... An excellent source book and guide to the history of a term and a concept, and a valuable document of the moral-political development of a generation."--The New Republic "Abbott Gleason's Totalitarianism is a thorough, dispassionate treatment of the ways in which that term has been applied in political analysis, from the first proud boasts of Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini to the tortured attempts of post-cold war eastern European intellectuals to categorize life under Soviet domination. Along the way, Gleason discusses the views of a vast range of thinkers from Giovanni Amendola to Vaclav Havel, displaying a remarkable intellectual range and a profound understanding of a subject that has for so long remained an analytical and epistemological tangle."--Leslie Kitchen, The Boston Book Review "A full survey of the shifts in meaning the word 'totalitarianism' has undergone--from its invention in Fascist Italy in the 1920s to its recent adoption by Russian intellectuals to describe the Communism under which they lived before 1991."--The New York Times Book Review "Gleason has given us the contemporary equivalent of Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism....An essential, fascinating, and thought-provoking work of intellectual history."--Kirkus Reviews "A serious and thoughtful examination of a complex conceptual and politically sensitive issue."--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Center for Strategic and International Studies "Professor Gleason's study of totalitarianism is an outstanding treatment of the complex and contentious subject. What gives it special value is that it contains a thoughtful and succinct analysis of the theories of totalitarianism and at the same time deals equally successfully with the practical politics of totalitarian systems and states."--Adam B. Ulam, Gurney Professor of History and Political Science, Harvard University Russian Research Center "An excellent discussion of the world-wide controversies around totalitarianism which are so fundamental for explaining the most destructive dictatorships of our century. As there is no 'end of history' after the fall of totalitarian empires in 1945 and in 1989, the threat and temptation of totalitarian ideologies and methods remain a reality of postfascist and postcommunist politics at the end of this troubled century. Abbott Gleason's balanced historical analysis helps to reappraise a terrible past and to understand its grave lessons."--Karl Dietrich Bracher, Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History, University of Bonn "Fair-minded and complete, lucidly summarizing the work of French, Italian, German, Russian, and American scholars."--The Baltimore Sun "A thoughtful examination of the idea of the radically intrusive "total state"....insightful reviews of the work of Hannah Arendt, Jacob Talmon, and Raymond Aron, among many others."--Foreign Affairs