As far as a the USSR goes, I am fully aware of their mass slaughter of their citizens, and yes, it does bear similarity to the KR. However, it takes more than that for true communism to exist. Right-wing dictatorships in Latin America also killed their citizens for "not going along with the program" (albeit not on the same scale). The Marxist stage calls for a stateless society free of social classes. The USSR for sure had a state, and actually did have some social class strata (albeit much more limited in scope than the US).

As far as your book recommendations go, I'll have to write those down and check them out at a later date (say, November).  I start school a week from Monday, and I'll also be coaching football. On top of that, we are in split households during the school year, so my spare time is about to be seriously reduced.  I do sincerely appreciate the recommendations (and the banter).