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, ISBN 978-0-71399-481-0 (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, ISBN 978-3-88680-708-6
    • World History of Communism. Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn ISBN 978-3-8389-0055-1.
    • 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

References

  1. ↑ "Professor David Priestland". 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. ↑ Priestland, David (30 August 2012). Merchant, Soldier, Sage: A New History of Power. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-197082-0.
  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)
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