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."

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

"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."

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

"[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."

"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."

"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."

"A fascinating study of politics, nature, and agriculture in the former East Germany after World War II. This is a really key contribution."

"Who knew that the pig would be a great subject around which to construct an entwined history of socialist economics and international relations? Like the extraordinarily adaptable animal that it showcases, Fleischman's well-written study ranges widely and digs deeply."

"One of the most innovative books of German history I've read in years."

"A compelling and beautifully written book. Fleischman's analysis complicates our standard narrative of the GDR as being defined by the environmental pollution it left behind, and shows how the problems it encountered run deeper than the Cold War. By looking at its history through the prism of an animal—the pig—we learn a tremendous amount that we had not previously known. This is an original and important contribution to a growing field of political ecology in history."