Don't need a book. I lived through the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia myself. People absolutely took everything good in socialism for granted and thought they were going to keep it, while also getting the capitalist treats as well. What followed was a nightmare of transition to crony capitalism, mixed in with a war. As a kid, I was also "hoodwinked" by the western media, but realised something was off with the whole narrative of wonderful capitalism, when I traveled abroad and was shocked to see so many homeless people and people going through garbage...something I haven't ever seen in socialist Yugoslavia. Soon after the transition, garbage scavengers became a regular thing and now it's all just a bunch of failed sorry states and ruined societies, staying barely afloat, mostly because of the achievements of the past socialist governments.

During the 2020 lockdowns, there were some stores that hid empty shelves with posters of shelves with food. I came across a Reddit thread about this and some descendent of East Germans said “wow this is just like east Germany”

Then an actual ex-East German guy showed up and said “actually, it’s nothing like east Germany. There weren’t many options to choose from but no one ever starved or struggled to find a home.”

The descendent guy got upset and said “stop praising a murderous regime.”