Enver Hoxha – Memoirs, Diary Selections and Compilations of Articles

Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha

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The Great ‘Marxist-Leninist’ Theoreticians

Enver Hoxha – Memoirs, Diary Selections and Compilations of Articles

On this page I propose to make available for download a series of books that were produced (mainly in the late 70s or early 80s of the last century) containing some of Enver Hoxha’s Memoirs, Diary Selections and Compilations of Articles. Many of these would not have been published widely at the time they were written. This is especially the case with those matters that are directly related to the Communist Party of China and the acrimonious break between Albania and China after the death of Chairman Mao Zedong. There are also some publications which may not have an obvious home on any of the other Enver Hoxha pages on this blog. Many have been scanned by the comrades at Enver Hoxha – His Life and Works and I am, again, very grateful for their work.

Enver Hoxha – Selected Works, Speeches and articles

The Party of Labour of Albania in battle with Modern Revisionism, Speeches and articles, Naim Frashëri Publishing House, Tirana, 1972, 528 pages. Covering the period from 1960 to 1969 this volume demonstrates the consistent approach taken by the Party of Labour of Albania in the struggle against modern revisionism, including the famous speech at the Meeting of the 81 Communist and Workers Parties in Moscow on 16th November 1960.

Albania Challenges Khrushchev Revisionism, Speeches, reports, letters and radiogrammes from the period June – December 1960, in relation to the Moscow Conference of the 81 Communist and Workers Parties., Gamma Publishing, New York, 1976, 295 pages.

Reflections on China Volume 1, 1962 – 1972 Extracts from the political diary, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1979, 783 pages. In this volume Hoxha expresses his frustration at the reluctance of the Communist Party of China to denounce, in public, the revisionism of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (and most of the world’s established Communist Parties).

Reflections on China Volume 2, 1973 – 1977 Extracts from the political diary, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1979, 810 pages. The relationship between Albania and China deteriorates (even before the death of Chairman Mao Zedong) and gets worse as the Chinese Revisionists, under the leadership of Deng Xioaping, carry out their coup d’etat.

Imperialism and the Revolution, World View Publications, Chicago, 1979, 461 pages. Enver Hoxha’s analysis of the situation in the People’s Republic of China after the death of Chairman Mao and the restoration of capitalism in the one time workers’ state. This includes criticisms of Chairman Mao when the two countries, and leaders, were supposed to have had good fraternal relationships.

The Titoites, Historical notes, Workers Publishing House, London, ND (original, published in Tirana, dated 1982), 643 pages. Articles where Comrade Enver Hoxha analyses and exposes the inherent revisionist and capitalist nature of the Yugoslavian version of socialism, posed by the renegade Josip Broz Tito. Most of the analysis is of the situation that developed in the 1940s.

The Anglo-American Threat to Albania, Memoirs of the National Liberation War, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1982, 446 pages. How the British and American Imperialists tried to determine that ‘friendly’ and ‘pro-western’ forces would triumph during the National Liberation War against Fascism and deny the Albanian People the fruits of their own struggle and sacrifices. This includes the so-called ‘Corfu Channel Incident‘.

Laying the Foundations of the New Albania, Memoirs and historical notes, Workers Publishing House, London, ND (original, published in Tirana, dated 1984), 584 pages. Memoirs covering the period from the foundation of the National Liberation Front in 1942 to the Proclamation of the People’s Republic of Albania in 1946.

Reflections on the Middle East, 1958 – 1983, Extracts from the political diary, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1984, 550 pages. Extracts from the Political Diary of Enver Hoxha, covering the period 1958 – 1983, where he makes an analysis of the events the Middle East and how both the imperialists and the Soviet Revisionists tried to maintain their influence at the expense of the Arab peoples.

The Khrushchevites – Memoirs, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1984, 492 pages. This work, written in 1976, comprises the author’s memoirs and personal impressions of his direct meetings and other various contacts with leaders of the CPSU and other Communist and Workers’ Parties during the years 1953-1961.

Two Friendly Peoples, Excerpts from the political diary and other documents on Albanian-Greek relations, 1941-1984, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin Institute, Toronto, 1985, 455 pages.

The Superpowers, 1959 – 1984, Extracts from the political diary, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1986, 245 pages. Comrade Enver Hoxha‘s analysis of the struggle for world hegemony between the two ‘so-called’ Superpowers, the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Biographical

Me Popullin mes Shokeve – Enver with the people, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1983, 210 pages. In Albanian. Picture album.

The house in which Comrade Enver Hoxha lived, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1984, 43 pages. In Albanian, French and English.

Udheheqes i dashur e i shtrenjte i Partise e i Popullit tone – The Party of the people, Naim Frashëri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 89 pages. In Albanian. Picture album.

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The Great ‘Marxist-Leninist’ Theoreticians

Enver Hoxha – Selected Works

 

Enver Hoxha

Enver Hoxha

More on Albania …..

The Great ‘Marxist-Leninist’ Theoreticians

Enver Hoxha – Selected Works

On this page you will find the 6 volumes of the Selected Works of Enver Hoxha in English. They were published over a period of 13 years, from 1974 to 1987 and it appears the project was not fully considered at the beginning. This means there is some overlap of time (and also articles) in Volumes 2 and 3. The last two volumes, 5 and 6, were published (at least in English) after Enver Hoxha’s death on 11th April 1985. These important books have been prepared for the internet by the Russian site ‘Enver Hoxha – His Life and Works’ and we appreciate the work they have done to enable the greater dissemination of his ideas.

More from Enver Hoxha

Memoirs, Diary Selections and Compilations of Articles

Speeches and articles

Enver Hoxha – Selected Works

Volume 1

Covers the period November 1941 – October 1948. This was the period from the foundation of the Albanian Communist Party, through the War of Liberation to the establishment of the People’s Republic of Albania.

Volume 2

Covers the period from November 1948 – November 1960. This was the time of the growth of modern Soviet Revisionism, following the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, up to the Meeting of Communist Parties in Moscow in November 1960 where Hoxha made his famous speech denouncing Khrushchev and his sycophantic hangers-on. (There’s an error on the page with the dates.)

Volume 3

Covers the period from June 1960 – October 1965. During this time Albania was coming under increasing pressure and threat from both the Yugoslav and the Soviet revisionists. The PLA was making a principled stance in the World Communist Movement and as a result was becoming more and more isolated as different parties followed the slavish road of Khrushchev.

Volume 4

Covers the period February 1966 – July 1975. The fight against imperialism and revisionism continues but relationships with the Communist Party of China start to become strained.

Volume 5

Covers the period November 1976 – June 1980. An intense period where the PLA continues to fight against modern revisionism, which has now morphed into ‘Eurocommunism’. The split with China becomes complete as Deng Xiaoping takes control of the Communist party of China.

Volume 6

Covers the period from July 1980 – December 1984. Now surrounded and attacked by the imperialists and the revisionists the PLA concentrates on the difficult task of the construction of socialism and the maintenance of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat in Albania.

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The Great ‘Marxist-Leninist’ Theoreticians

Picnic at San Vigilio

San Vigilio Funicular

San Vigilio Funicular

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Picnic at San Vigilio

With the idea that it’s possible to ‘do’ Bergamo in three full days I thought it would be useful to suggest that one of the lunches out of the three could consist of something a little less ‘formal’ than in a restaurant. I’ve already suggested the Autogrill in the Città Bassa and Il Circolino in the Città Alta so here I thought I’d offer some thoughts on snacking and organising a picnic at San Vigilio.

Obviously eating al fresco depends upon the weather. I don’t know if I’ve just been lucky but during all of my three visits to Bergamo I’ve hit good weather. Yes, it was cold during the winter but most days were bright and rain free. The worse I’ve had to deal with were overcast days and an almost persistent haze that seems to hang over the town and the valley, presumably caused in no small part to air pollution. But a picnic on a clear day in winter is still an option, just need to make sure you wrap up warm.

A starter in this al fresco eating experience could well be a bowl of polenta provided by the stall directly across Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe from the entrance to the funicular station. This advertises itself as the first polenta take-away in Italy – in English. I can’t verify that claim and it calls itself ‘Polenta One’ but whether there’s a ‘Polenta Two’ I’ve no idea.

Polenta Stall, Piazza Mercato della Scarpe

Polenta Stall, Piazza Mercato della Scarpe

Behind the window hatch of this tiny stall is a machine which dispenses piping hot polenta (it took the skin off the roof of my mouth when I tried it) and other containers of the sauce of your choice. The selection is up on a board in both Italian and English. The stall is open from 11.30 – 14.30 and from 18.00 – 24.00. It’s designed as a take-away but there are a few places where you can sit and eat under cover of the building – so protected from the wet elements.

I tried a bowl of the Taragna (that’s polenta with Parmesan cheese as opposed to the Gialle – which is plain, yellow polenta) with a wild boar sauce. Not too sure if I’m a big fan of polenta but it filled a hole and was tasty enough. This cost me €6. (I don’t normally photograph my food but thought to do so this time.)

Polenta and wild boar

Polenta and wild boar

If you have this snack soon after the place opens you can do some more visiting around Città Alta before heading up to castle and park for a picnic at San Vigilio.

There are plenty of places to get snack food depending upon how hungry you might be, how many people you are catering for, how adventurous you want to be and how deep are your pockets.

If you’re into pizza then the biggest selection is in the shop right opposite the entrance to the Teatro Sociale in Via Colleoni, just around the corner from the Piazza Vecchia. If you’re new to Italy remember that the price quoted is for weight (and not a piece). Also at busy times you order and get a bill, pay at the cash desk to get a receipt and then return to the counter to pick up your purchases.

Gastronomica Deli Via Colleoni 7

Gastronomica Deli Via Colleoni 7

If you want to try local meats, cheeses and other delicacies I’d recommend the delicatessen Gastronomia at Via Colleoni 7, heading in the direction of San Vigilio. There you’ll find a large selection of local cheeses and salamis as well as huge pies with meat and cheese fillings as well as vegetarian options. A slice of those pies that will make a reasonable meal will cost you in the region of €6. This is not a particularly cheap place but it was the best place I came across for such provisions.

There are a number of cake shops for those with a sweet tooth, one of the biggest being right at the end of Via Gombito, at the corner of Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe. This shop displays the local sweet speciality, the ‘Polenta e Osei’ a hand shaped cake that’s a speciality of Bergamo. There seems to be as many different recipes as there are people to make them but basically consists of a sweetened polenta mix with a jam filling of some sort, perhaps with the addition of ground almonds. There’s an icing on the top and the chocolate is supposed to represent birds (the osie), sometimes artistically made. They vary in size (and price) but if you just want a taste the smallest I came across was sold in the pizza shop by the Teatro Sociale for €1.80.

Polenta e Osei

Polenta e Osei

However, whichever place you choose to do your shopping it’s advisable to do so earlier rather than later as come lunch time some of these places are heaving.

But I’ve left out the most important ingredient for a picnic – what to drink? If wine is your drink of choice then a little bit of pre-planning is necessary. The mark-up on booze in Città Alta borders on the criminal so a visit to a supermarket in the new town prior to picnic day is recommended. I tried two or three different Chiantis during my last trip and if you paid something in the region of €5-6 you would be able to pick of a very acceptable bottle.

Here’s one tip people might find useful. Drinking out of plastic cups is never a good experience, whatever the contents. My suggestion is to buy one of the stainless steel cups that are often used for water in Indian vegetarian restaurants. These are light, sturdy and unbreakable and cost very little. Available in Asian supermarkets throughout the country.

Once you have all your provisions head for the bottom station of the San Vigilio funicular. This is just outside the Porta di San Alessandro and the Largo Colle Aperto (where the No 1 bus down to the new town has its terminus). It’s only a short 5 minute journey in the small train and the cost is covered by the Bergamo Card or the daily travel tickets. They run about every 15-20 minutes.

From the top station go up hill to the Castello di San Vigilio and go as high as you like when you run out of road. There are a few levels where you can look back down on the old town. On a clear day you’ll also be able to see into the high mountains, perhaps with snow – depending on the time of year.

Orobie Alps and Citta Alta

Orobie Alps and Citta Alta

If you fancy an overpriced beer before heading back into town the bar next to the funicular station has a pleasant, covered, outside seating area. A beer here (less than a pint) will cost €4.50.

You can either catch the funicular or walk down the obvious road back to Città Alta. If you’re in Bergamo mid-week and miss the regular opening times of the Santa Grata Inter Vites church, in order to see the macabre paintings behind the altar, you could make a slight diversion down the steps and see if anyone is around who you can try to convince to open up and let you have a look. On the way back into town have a look at the plaques with information about the town’s original basilica at the top end of Via Borgo Canale. A fitting end to a picnic at San Vigilio.

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