Book Review: U.S.S.R. Foreign Policy
| Date | 01 October 1946 |
| Author | L. Ignatieff |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204600100412 |
| Published date | 01 October 1946 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book
Reviews
appoint
readers
who
hope
for
romantic
tales
of
fishing
in
Oriental
seas.
Its
primary
object
is
to
analyze
the
sea-fishing economy
of
a
particular
region
on
the
east
coast
of
Malaya,
and
to
illustrate
by
a
sample
study
the
principles
which
may
apply
elsewhere
not
only
in Malaya
but
in
other parts
of
Indonesia.
Mr.
Firth
(Professor
of
Anthropology
in
the University
of
London)
and
his
wife
spent
nearly
a
year
(1940-41)
on
their
intensive
inquiry.
The
field
study
methods
which
they
employed
are
described
in
a
very
interesting
"note
on
Problems and
Technique"
(Appendix
I).
It
was
necessary
for
them
not
only
to
achieve
fluency
in
the
local
dialect
but
also
to
acquire
a
budget
of
technical
terms
relating
to
fishing,
agricul-
ture,
marketing,
etc.
They lived
among the
people
and gained
intimate
knowledge
of
the
community
organization
and
life
by
taking
part
in
their
social
activities.
The
outcome
of
the
enterprise
is
a
mass
of
statistical material,
with
analytical
comment,
leading
to
broad
conclusions
for
the
better-
ment
of
the
Malay
fishing
industry
as
a
whole,
from
the
technical,
or-
ganizational;
and
social
view-points.
A
small
sector
in
the
great
design
for
economic
advance in
Malaya
and
Indonesia
has
been
etched
in
by
a
'master
hand.
Few anecdotes
of
human
or
nature
interest
are
to
be
found
in
the
text,
and
individual
villagers
who
are
portrayed
appear
as
puppets
brought
on
for
the
purpose
of
illustrating
customs,
relation-
ships,
and
transactions.
Mr.
Firth's
matter-of-fact
description
of
the
art
of
"listening
for
fish"
(pages
99-103)
is
enthralling.
In
certain
types
of
lift-net
fishing,
lures,
or
artificial
shelters (unjang)
are
set
down
on
favourable
fishing
grounds
each
year
after
the
monsoon.
When
the
fishing fleet
arrives at
the
ground,
it
is
the
business
of
the
expert
(juru
s~lam)
to
find
out
whether
there
is
a
promising
shoal
of
fish
round
the
lure.
He
does
this
by
sub-
merging
himself
alongside
his
boat
for
the
purpose
of
distinguishing
by
the
volume
and
quality
of
the
noise
whether
the
shoal
is
large
or
small
and
of
what
kind
of fish
it
is
composed.
No
large
net
is
ever
cast
unless
the expert interprets
the
fish
sounds
favourably.
In
one
of
the
book's
many
excellent photographs
the expert
is
shown
*about
to
submerge
near
the
bamboo
float
of
the
lure.
Victoria,
August
1946.
Robert
Holland
U.S.S.R.
FOREIGN
POLICY.
By
Victor
A.
Yakhontoff.
1945.
(New York:
Coward-McCann.
Toronto: Longmans,
Green.
311pp.
$4.50)
Much
of
the
population
of
the
Western
Hemisphere
undoubtedly
feels,
these
days,
in
agreement with
Winston
Churchill's
now famous
view
of
Russian
policy
as
"a riddle
wrapped
in
a
mystery
inside
an
enigma."
That
is
one
reason
why
General
Yakhontoff's
book
can
be
described
as
both
timely and
interesting,
for
it
is
a
review
of
the
foreign
policy
of
the
Soviet Union
from
the
Revolution
to
the
Yalta
and
San
Francisco
Conferences.
It
is
intended,
as
the
jacket
announces, for
the
373
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