Communist Pigs

"[A] fascinating and exhaustive study...An excellent storyteller, Fleischman has produced a very well-written book that will be useful togeneral readers and specialists alike."

* Choice *

"[D]escribe[s] the shifting, meaningful relationship between hogs and humans, a relationship worthy of our attention."

* Ohio Valley Review *

"Communist Pigs gives historians in many fields much to think about: the German Democratic Republic, the Eastern Bloc, Cold War diplomacy, late-twentieth-century capitalism, German reunification, industrial agriculture, environmentalism, and the pig. Fleischman convincingly argues that pigs' centrality to the GDR's trade with foreign nations, organization of internal priorities, and creation of challenges for the regime to grapple with makes them an effective lens for studying these histories, and succeeds in challenging ideological interpretations of the Cold War's outcome and of global capitalism's legacies."

* H-Net *

"[A] remarkable first book... Communist Pigs makes a major contribution to the ongoing efforts to reframe East Germany's environmental history."

* American Historical Review *

"[P]acked with original insights. It represents a significant contribution to the intersecting histories of the environment, technology and science, and animals, and fills animportant gap in our knowledge about the relationship between communism, technology, and animals."

* Technology and Culture *

"Remarkably well-written and accessible to a variety of audiences. . . Fleischman's monograph makes a highly original and much-needed contribution not only to the field of environmental history, but also to the history of East Germany, communism and the Cold War."

* International Review of Social History *

"An inspiring, well-researched volume that will hopefully serve to nudge GDR history out of its niche. Much of GDR history does not really care about the world beyond East Germany's boundaries, and Fleischman shows that this is not for lack of rewarding context."

* Agricultural History Review *