Soviet foreign relations and world communism

Book Review: Soviet Foreign Relations and World SOVIET FOREIGN RELATIONS AND WORLD COMMUNISM: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography of 7,000 Books in 30 Languages. Edited by Thomas T. Hammond (Princeton University Press, 1965. 1240 pp.). Price: $25.00. It would be difficult to imagine a more thorough, comprehensive or authoritative work in this field. In his preface, the editor, who is professor of history at the University of Virginia, indicates the coverage of the volume: “The present bibliography is designed to be more comprehensive than any of [the previous published works in Russian or English]. It includes publications on four major subjects: Soviet diplomatic and economic relations with all major countries since 1917; Communist movements throughout the world since 1917; various aspects of Soviet foreign policy and Communist tactics (ideology, ‘front’ organizations, espionage, . . etc.); and major internal developments in all Communist countries except the U.S.S.R.” The bibliography is divided into three main parts. Part I, Souiet Foreign Relations by Chronological Periods, lists works that discuss Soviet dealings with Part II, Souiet Foreign Relamore than one country. tions and Communism by Regions and Countries, comprises the greater part of the volume. Part III, Special Topics, deals with those aspects of Soviet foreign relations and world communism which are not adapted to chronological or geographical classification. Each section is annotated by a scholar who has made a special study of that particular subject. The result is a virtual roster of leading experts on Sino-Soviet foreign relations and world communism drawn from the United States and in some cases, from Europe and Asia. The coverage of Part I extends from general works on Soviet foreign policy to such topics as the Hague Conference in the 1921-28 period or the independence movement in the Ukraine. Included are all works dealing with more than one country up through 1963. Part II is area-oriented, that is, material is arranged by geographic area. Here is a rich hunting ground for either the area specialist or the student of Communist affairs interested in comparative information. Part III, Special Topics, contains detailed data on everything from Communist ideology and propaganda, in general, to such topics as,Soviet policy towards disarmament, the Soviet Union and International law, Soviet military power and doctrine, and Soviet foreign economic relations. Reproduction of just two sections of the table of contents, Part III, will demonstrate the comprehensive coverage of the work: S. Communist International Mass Organizations Since 196 I. 2.

General Works Communist Information

International International International 6. International

3. 4. 5.

Living 7. International III

I

Conditions and Organization

JANUARY-FEBRUARY,

Bureau

(Cominform)

Association of Democratic Lawyers Committee for the Promotion of Trade Federation of ResistanceFighters Medical Associationfor the Study of

1965

Health of Journalists

Communism:

a Bibliography

8. International Radio and Television Organization g. International Union of Students 10. World Federation of Democratic Youth II. World Youth and Student Festivals Sponsored by WFDY and IUS 12. Women’s International Democratic Federation 13. World Peace Council and Its Affiliates 14. World Federation of Scientific Workers 15. World Federation of Teachers’ Unions (Federation Internationale Syndicale de L’Enseignement-FISE) 16. World Federation of Trade Unions X. Soviet Military Power and Doctrine I. General Works 2. 1917-‘939 3. 4.

1939-1945 lgti-1963

5. Air and Rocket Forces 6. Navy 7. Military Periodicals

The difficulty in attempting to convey concisely and in any meaningful way the nature and scope of so comprehensive a volume is apparent. One annotation selected from each of the three parts, noted above, may serve to show the treatment. From Part I, General Works (Edited by Robert F. Byrnes and Paul K. Cook). CARR, EDWARD H. A History of Soviet Russia. N.Y. and London: Macmillan, lgsc+-. A multi-volume history of the Soviet Union by a distinguished British scholar; seven volumes have appeared. Based almost entirely on official Soviet materials, even to the neglect of other sources and studies. The product of immense research, they reflect skilled mastery of details. The first three volumes are somewhat marred by uncritical admiration for Lenin and apparent acceptance of the official Bolshevik point of view. Vol. 3, entitled The Bolshevik Revolution, 1g17-1923, is devoted entirely to Soviet foreign relations, and Vol. 47 The Interregnum, 1923-1924, has a section on this topic. Vol. 7, Socialism in One Country, lgq-lg26 (in two parts) deals with foreign relations for those years. Car-r hopes to carry the story through 1929, with a total of IO volumes. A work of great importance.

From Part II, Regions and Countries (4. Communist China, 1949-1963, edited by Howard L. Boorman). The China Qumterly. London, lg6o-. Quarterly. Sponsored by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, this is the principal non-Communist journal devoted to regular coverage of recent developments in China and adjacent Communist areas in Asia. Editor and guiding spirit is Roderick MacFarquhar; advisory editor is G. F. Hudson of St. Anthony’s College, Oxford. Now indispensable for serious students of contemporary Chinese and Communist bloc affairs, The China QuarterZy, through its rapid development, has reflected the underlying fact that China, along with the United States and the Soviet Union, is one of the few nations exerting sufficient intellectual and political appeal to sustain a periodical review with international circulation.

From Part III, Special Topics (2. Soviet Foreign Economic Relations, edited by Robert Vincent Allen and Robert Loring Allen). BERLINER, JOSEPH S. Soviet Economic Aid; the New Aid and Trade Policy in Underdeveloped Countries. N.Y.: Published for the Council on Foreign Relations by Praeger, 232 p. An important scholarly study resulting from w8. meetings of the Council on Foreign Relations. By a leading American economist. Useful data and careful and conservative analysis.

This is a work which no library can afford to be without. Most serious students of the field will also, no doubt, wish to have a personal copy.4R.S.

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