What did it mean to be a communist in the twentieth century? Thanks in large part to Hollywood movies, there are a few archetypal communist characters, including the uncompromising dogmatist, the conniving rabble-rouser, and the misled “useful idiot.” Whatever communists were, being a red placed you far away from what was considered mainstream.

Comrades! Lives of Australian Communists goes a long way to challenging this blinkered picture by collecting a hundred fascinating, interlinked short biographies of members of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), accompanied by many more that are accessible online. Produced with support from the SEARCH Foundation, formed in 1990 by CPA members, Comrades! is also a celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the CPA’s founding in October 1920.

The party’s historical arc is well established. After achieving prominence during the Great Depression, the CPA hit a high-water mark of popularity in the 1940s as a result of the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazism. Then the onset of the Cold War saw the CPA begin a slow decline. After flirting with the New Left and Eurocommunism, the party finally allied with the center left of the trade union movement and the Australian Labor Party before dissolving in 1991.