David Priestland

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David Priestland is a British historian. He teaches modern history at the

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)
  • Merchant, soldier, sage: a history of the world in three castes. New York: Penguin Press, 2013

References

  1. St Edmund Hall
    . Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Professor David Priestland". University of Oxford. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  3. ^ "David Priestland". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Writer: David Priestland". New Statesman. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  5. .
  6. ^ "Priestland contends perpetual power struggle in Merchant, Soldier, Sage". The National. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  7. ^ Timmins, Adam. "review of Merchant Soldier Sage". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links