Book Review: Conversations with Stalin
| Date | 01 March 1963 |
| Published date | 01 March 1963 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206301800121 |
| Author | Robert H. McNeal |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
108
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Frederick
L.
Baghoorn
and Alexander
Dallin (respectively)
demon-
strate,
the
role
of
these
instruments
of
policy
in
the
Tsarist
era
was
vastly
less
important than
it
has
been
since
1917.
Some
of
the
most
valuable passages
in
the
collection
are
found
in
essays
that
would
better
succeed
in
providing
historical
perspective
if
they
were
more
evenly
proportioned.
Theodore
H.
von Laue
provides
a
provocative
general
theory
of
Russian
foreign
policy
and
an
out-
standing
brief
interpretation
of
the
interplay
of
economics
and
foreign
policy
in
the
late
Tsarist
era,
but
his
treatment
of
this
problem
in
the
Soviet period
is
comparatively
disappointing. Robert
F.
Byrnes'
essay
on
"Attitudes
toward
the
West"
demonstrates
his
mastery
of
the
era
of
Pobedonostsev
but
one
misses
the
same
depth
in his
handling
of
the
Soviet
period.
Raymond
L. Garthoff,
on
the
other
hand,
is
more
penetrating
in his
handling
of
the
Soviet
era
than
of
the
pre-1917
period
in
his
essay
on
the military
in
foreign
affairs.
Both
Hajo
Holborn
("Russia
and
the
European Political
System")
and
Ivo
J.
Lederer ("Russia
and
the
Balkans")
contribute essays
that
maintain remarkable
standards
of
insight
and
concision
up
to
the
Russian
Revolution.
But
beyond
this
point
Holborn
writes
very
little,
while
Lederer
seems
interested
in
international
communism
(only
to
about
1947),
almost
to
the
exclusion of
conventional
diplomacy.
Sergius
Yakobson's
essay
on
"Russia
and
Africa"
is
valuable
as
a
comprehensive
sketch
of
a
little-known
topic,
but
leaves
the
impression,
contrary
to
the intent
of
the
writer,
that
until
very
recently
his
subject
has
merited
its
obscurity.
One
misses
the
presence
of
any essay
con-
centrating
on
Russia
and
East-Central
Europe,
which
is
probably
the
most
important
of
all
of
Russia's
strategic frontiers.
McMaster
University
ROBERT
H.
McNEAL
CONVmESATIONS
WrrH
STALIN.
By
Milovan
Djilas.
Translated
by
Michael
B.
Petrovich.
1962.
(New York:
Harcourt,
Brace.
Tor-
onto:
Longmans.
211pp.
$4.95.)
There
are
two
great
Ironies
in
Djilas'
account
of
his
meetings
with
Stalin.
The
first
is
that
he
alludes
to
Tito
with
sincere
goodwill
and
repeatedly
justifies Titoism
against
Stalinism-but
Tito imprisoned
Djilas
for
writing
the
book.
The
second
is
that
Djilas
climaxes
his
evolving
disillusionment
with Stalinism
by
declaring
that
the
late
dictator
was
"the
greatest
criminal
in
history"-but
as
a
first-hand
witness
Djilas
provides
some
clear
refutation
of
Khrushchev's
accusa-
tions
against
Stalin
and
no
criminal
evidence
at
all.
The
first
irony
probably
can
be
understood
rather
simply
as
the
clash
between
Djilas'
inflexible
devotion
to
intellectual
freedom
and
Tito's
apparent
conviction
that
an
anti-communist
in
a
communist
country
may
be
permitted
to
live
but
not
to
express
himself
on
political
matters,
even
those
on
which he
agrees
with
the
regime.
The
second
irony
is
more
complex.
Djilas
evidently
believes
that
his
narrative
progressively reveals
Stalin's criminality; chapters entitled "Raptures,"
"Doubts"
and "Disappointments"
lead
up
to
his
conclusion
that
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