This is an analysis of the impact of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union on the communist parties of Western Europe. Seven case-studies, covering the Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian, British and German parties, provide a comparative perspective.

This is an analysis of the impact of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union on the communist parties of Western Europe. Seven case-studies, covering the Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian, British and German parties, provide a comparative perspective. The conclusion assesses the range of responses to the dramatic events of 1989-91 and the likely future direction of the west-European communist movement. It is argued that, whilst it is no longer possible to talk of a coherent "family" of communist parties, various individual parties - some of them in revised form - may continue to prosper.

List of Tables - List of Abbreviations - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction: Of Chance, and Death, and Mutability
P.Heywood - Voluntary Euthanasia: From the Italian Communist Party to the Democratic Party of the Left
P.Daniels &
M.J.Bull - The French Communist Party and the End of Communism
P.Morris - The Spanish Left: Towards a 'Common Home'?
P.Heywood - The Portuguese Communist Party: Perestroika and its Aftermath
M.T.Patricio &
A.D.Stoleroff - The Decline and Fall of the Communist Party of Belgium
P.Delwit &
J-M.de Waele - The British Road is Resurfaced for New Times: From the British Communist Party to the Democratic Left
N.Fishman - German Communism, the PDS and the Re-unification of Germany
G.Minnerup - The West European Communist Movement: Past, Present and Future
M.J.Bull - Index