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The Secret World of American Communism (1995)
Front Cover Book Details
Genre Non-Fiction
Publication Date 3/20/1995
Format Hardcover (9.6 x 6.5 mm)
Publisher Yale University Press
Language English
Extras Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover
Description
For the first time, the hidden world of American communism can be examined with the help of documents from the recently opened archives of the former Soviet Union. An engrossing narrative places the documents in their historical context and explains key figures, organizations, and events. Illustrations.
Personal Details
Purchase Price $5.23
Acquire Date 12/26/2017
Condition Very Good/Very Good
Rating 0
Links Library of Congress
Product Details
LoC Classification HX83 .K557 1995
Dewey 320.5320973
ISBN 9780300061833
Edition [1st ed.]
Series Annals of Communism Series
Cover Price $55.00
No. of Pages 348
First Edition Yes
Rare No
Notes/Review
A while back I read a book called Inside the Stalin Archives. That book wasn't so much about the archives themselves but how American historians got access to the archives. I found it interesting and enjoyable, if not exactly what I was expecting. This book is one of the volumes that was produced by the researchers.

It is presented in an unusual format. It concentrates on 92 specific documents, most of which are reproduced in their entirety. The text places these documents in their context and explains what they mean and their relationship to other documents and often related events in the wider historical record.

But to say these are from the Stalin Archives is a bit dramatic and misleading. These would be more accurately described as the ComIntern archives. They span the time from about 1920 until 1945. Most are from the 1930's, when the archives are more complete. In the early days of the CPUSA (Communist Party of the USA), not all records were sent to the Soviet Union, and when the Second World War broke out more gaps appeared due to obvious logistical difficulties.

Frankly, I was a bit underwhelmed. The picture painted by these documents isn't so much one of a nefarious organization dedicated to the overthrow of American Democracy, but a bickering bunch of ideologues concerned more with who was a Trotskyist or a Lovestoneist. This is not to say that the CPUSA were not dedicated Communists loyal to their Soviet masters, provided with funds and missions to infiltrate the US government, trade unions, and other American institutions. They were. But the documentary evidence provided, while it supports the position that the CPUSA was secretive and involved in a wide variety of surveillance activities, they were relatively unproductive. The best examples provided did show that confidential information was given to the Soviets, but that confidential information was not secret or classified info.

Of course, because these documents come from the ComIntern rather than the KGB (and its forerunners), we're likely not getting the "good stuff." It may well be the case that the CPUSA was as dangerous as the Red Scare of the 1950's would lead us to believe. But I don't think this book makes a very good case of it.

I found the most interesting document was a letter sent from the US Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd, to President Roosevelt from late 1936. Dodd's letter is insightful and if more such letters made their way to Western leaders of the time, perhaps much agony could have been avoided. This letter is enough for me to search out a good biography of Dodd, or at least a book about his time as Ambassador to the Third Reich.

My 2 star rating may be a bit harsh. I found the format of the book interesting. Although I read a lot of history, I don't really know how history is researched when it comes to archival sources. The topic is important, even if the documents we're presented are less than earth-shattering. And there are a number of interesting vignettes of various CPUSA members. I just feel that the book falls short of being the "convincing new picture" of the CPUSA that it purports to be.