Communism is held in respect by Western liberals

This is a review of the book "In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage", which tells the story how American communists clinged and defended Stalinism. I grew up in the USSR and to me and most of the people of my age it is self-evident that communism is a failed ideology that led to the deaths of thousands.
Not so in the West. A standard answer you receive from a Canadian left-of-the-centre person is that "yes, communism has failed but at least it had a noble purpose".
Lots has to be done to change that.