Book, Cycle of totalitarianism, O[LS]

Why have egalitarian and anti-egalitarian totalitarian regimes been so prominent, even after the great advances in civil and political rights since the 18th century? It is impossible to think about the 20th century without the conflicts that occurred during its course coming to mind. Two global conflagrations, wars of independence and revolutions left their marks on contemporary consciousness with iron and fire. Among these events, apart from the great wars, two stand out, going beyond their borders: the October Revolution in Russia and the Chinese Revolution. Both would be examples, for the author of this book, of what can be defined as a reversal of the process of recognition of civil and political rights that, with its ups and downs, had progressively advanced throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. In his view, in this original approach, fascism and Nazism on the one hand, and Stalinism and Maoism on the other, constituted authentic historical regressions.