I read that in the 1960s. The only other book that had so much impact on my political views was Ayn Rand's Anthem.As time passed, I became friends with a number of refugees from the Soviet Union and from its satellite empire. They confirmed every negative thing I had heard about communism
I had good friends in Canada who had immigrated from communist Hungary. They, in turn, had friends who voluntarily went back to communist Hungary. Being raised with the notion of a guaranteed job with income of some sort, the fear of becoming unemployed, starving, or having major medical expenses drove them back to Hungary.
Wisdom as ancient as Sparta in regard to the requirements of true “freedom”. Once the will to be free has been taken from a people does it EVER return?