This book chronicles the struggle among non-Communist leftists
and liberals over American relations with the Soviet Union from
1939 through the 1950s. Few now care as passionately and as
violently as people did then about Soviet-American relations. It
was a time when friends became enemies, and others forged strange
alliances, all in the name of commitments that today seem remote. A
Better World evokes those times and their choices, and explains why
these long-ago battles still arouse such deep feelings today--and
should.
Americans who were pro-Soviet without being members of the
Communist party--"progressives" as they called themselves--had a
large emotional investment in the Soviet Union. From 1935 to 1939
literally millions joined the "Popular Front" of pro-Soviet
organizations. O'Neill takes us through the shock of the
Stalin-Hitler pact of 1939, through the revival of the Popular
Front spurred by government and business support after Russia
entered the war against Hitler. He traces the isolation of the
anti-Stalinists, the rise and fall of Henry Wallace, and the
eclipse of progressivism. And he explores the shifting allegiances
of intellectuals as they struggled, often with each other, to
influence the course of public debate, with long-lasting
consequences for American intellect, culture, and morals.
As O'Neill observes in his introduction, "More than any of my
other books A Better World inspired correspondents to send me
probing or reflective letters." It was this response, along with
the extraordinary critical debate spurred by initial publication of
this volume, that makes the book's continuing importance clear. The
dream of achieving a better world through radical violence never
dies, and the willingness of apologists to cling to utopian visions
persists. As long as it does, the lessons of this book need to be
available to us.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!