For Russia, it was a time of troubles: war, famine, and social
upheaval the likes of which the world had never seen before. World
War I, two revolutions in 1917, and the subsequent civil war and
Allied intervention completely eradicated one regime and replaced
it with a radically new one. Now an award-winning diplomatic
historian ties these events together to reveal their far-reaching
consequences for the future of not only the new Soviet Union but of
the United States as well.
In War and Revolution, Norman Saul offers a fresh analysis of
this troubled era in Russia and of the American reaction to it.
Tracing the events surrounding America's entry into the European
conflict and its encouragement of continued Russian participation
even in the face of domestic unrest, he shows how those
circumstances adversely affected relations between two nations and
shaped their futures in the century ahead.
Drawing on rarely accessed military and diplomatic archives in
both countries, Saul reaches beyond official actions to give
readers a vivid sense of those times. He surveys the vast panorama
of events while providing not only detailed accounts of the
activities of consular, diplomatic, and military staffs but also
colorful vignettes of ordinary Americans in Russia involved in
humanitarian relief and other activities. Businessmen and artists,
Red Cross volunteers and journalists -- all were caught up in the
immediacy of war and revolution, and all contributed to the
shifting sentiments of two nations.
War and Revolution is the third volume in Saul's sweeping
history of U.S.-Russian relations, already hailed for setting "a
new standard for how the history of international relations ought
to bewritten" (TLS). Here he further develops the theme of
"mirror-imaging", describing ways in which Americans and Russians
saw themselves as having a common relationship distinguished from
other European or Asian nations. Despite the turmoil of this era,
he explains, Russians continued to look to America for ideas and
models while Americans expected Russians to follow their lead in
developing resources and reforming institutions.
By 1921, Americans were in a quandary about Russia as its former
friend pursued a hostile course beyond U.S. control. Saul's account
of those years clearly shows how this parting of the ways came
about -- and how it set the stage for a cold war that would test
both country's wills later in the century.
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