Soviet Man and His World. by Klaus Mehnert; Maurice RosenbaumReview by: Edwin B. MorrellSlavic Review, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Mar., 1963), pp. 158-159Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3000412 .

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158 Slavic Review

because a philosophical position sustaining them is nowhere formulated. Finally, the author's style is not conducive to easy reading and it is some-

times ponderously verbose without the excuse of profound content. On page 6 of the introduction, for instance, the author demonstrates an uncanny ability to fatigue the reader in the course of a relatively short sentence. I quote: "The more elaborate the paraphernalia of authentication the greater the chance of vicarious popular participation in its conundrums."

It would be unfair to suggest that all his conclusions are similarly encum- bered. Some of them are succinctly put and convey useful insights. I shall therefore conclude this brief review with another quotation, from the final paragraph of Chapter 3: "Thus the lasting results of the propaganda trial are likely to be paradoxical. The morality play, after serving the political needs of the day, will survive mainly as a testimony to its initiators' own frame of mind, which may wATell prove more distorted than that of their victim."

University of Washington KENNETH C. COLE

KLAUS MEHNERT, Soviet Man and His W4orld. Translated by Maurice Rosenbaum. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1962. 310 pp. $5.95.

Soviet mian in Klaus Miehnert's view is significantly different from his Russian grandfather, but not entirely a "new Soviet man." A German by birth, 'Idr. Mehnert was reared in tsarist Russia, educated in Germany and America, and has subsequently specialized in Soviet affairs. He resided and traveled in Russia on thirteen separate occasions, together totaling six years. Thus, he is uniquely qualified for his task.

In Soviet Man and His World Mr. Mehnert has analyzed the impact upon the present-day Russian of three primary influences: his heritage of tradi- tional Russian characteristics, the forces of industrialization, and the pres- sures of Communist social engineering. His conclusions are perceptive and should be of interest and value to the specialist and layman alike. "The Russian of today," he stresses, "is more moderate, more disciplined, than his forebears; his boundless energy is absorbed by exacting labor and checked by strict laws" (p. 32). On the one hand, Soviet man respects (even though he somewhat resents) the privileged scientist and Communist functionary in much the same manner that his grandfather tended servilely to admire the elite in tsarist Russia. His fear of being spied upon and his distrust of all about him during the worst Stalin years have, significantly, failed to snuff out his inherited human warmth, boisterousness, and overt sympathy for his fellow beings and his gregariousness. Like his predecessor, he is reluctant to accept personal responsibility.

On the other hand, Soviet man's inherited capacity to endure hardship and bow to the inevitable has abetted Communist dictatorial rule. Despite the latter, however, the author believes that Soviet man has become more ego- tistical and not more collectivist minded. Indeed, after comparing Russians with Americans, the author concludes that Soviet man is more man than he is Soviet: he is, and likely will remain, more concerned with assuring his personal security, maximizing his privacy, and extending intellectual free-

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Reviews 159

domn than with "building communism." He is first a Russian reshiaped by industrialization, and only secondly a product of Communist socialization.

These among a multitude of revealing observations are presented by means of colorful, personal experiences and keen analysis, with pertinent references to Soviet novels, drama, and periodicals. However, in format and style the book will no doubt prove distracting to the specialist and confusing to the lay reader. As it stands, the work is neither a smoothly written first- person travelogue nor a well-integrated and systematic analysis of the Soviet scene based upon several sources. The organization of the book seems too contrived, and yet the presentation is not wholly coherent. For example, the chapter on the traditional Russian character introduces the primary theme of the book but theli goes afield in commenting on Soviet juvenile delin- quency, sex, and alcoholism.

The book also suffers from several inconsistencies, errors, and omissions. In describing four social strata in the USSR, the author accounts for only about 195 million of the total population (pp. 222-24). His dating of the revocation of stringent wartime labor laws in 1956 is only partially correct (p. 238). The reviewer's research indicates that the penalty clauses were secretly repealed in 1951 and not reprinted since. M\Ir. Mehnert fails to consider the Vlasov movement, Ukrainian partisan operations, and the Georgian riots of 1956 as uprisings in any way comparable to the East Euro- pean revolts of 1956 (pp. 197 and 218). Finally, although the book has a rather complete index, it lacks a bibliography.

Despite these distracting elements, the book should be given a very wide reading because of its many authoritative insights. The author recognizes that the post-Stalin reforms were, in the last analysis, granted by the ruling elite and not wrested from it. Nevertheless, the author believes that the con- tinuity and vitality of the better prerevolutionary Russian characteristics in Soviet manr will eventually be the most likely and the most significant modi- fiers of those aspects of Soviet communism that are most repugnant to Soviet citizens at home and to freer peoples abroad.

Briglam Youtng University EDWIN B. MORRELL

JOHN ERICKSON, The Soviet High Command: A VlMilitary-Political History, 1918-1941. Newv York: St. Martin's Press, 1962. xv + 889 pp. $15.00.

As one who had himself for some years been collecting materials and thouglhts for a book on Soviet political-military relations, this reviewer must begin by saying that any personal disappointment at seeing such a study written first by a colleague is far overshadowed by pleasure at seeing the job so competently and so definitively done. Mr. Erickson has combined exhaustive research and broad scope with balanced and objective analysis. The subtitle is a more accurate indicator of the content than is the more restrictive image raised by the title, and the study in fact encompasses most aspects of "civil-military" relations in the USSR and the main lines of military policy. It is a real contribution to political science, as well as to history.

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