Behind Soviet Power; Stalin and the Russians
New York: The Readers' Press, Inc., 1946. Presumed first edition/first printing. Hardcover. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11.25 inches. [2], 120 p., [6]. Illustrations. Some page discoloration noted. Some page corners creased. Cover has wear and some tears (spine). Dust jacket is price clipped and its spine is discolored and worn, several chips and tears to spine and elsewhere. Introduction by former Ambassador Joseph E. Davies. Includes Message to Americans by Ilya Ehrenburg. The author prior to American entry into WWI served with the Red Cross and oversaw prisoners of war in Turkestan. During WWII he served as a war correspondent in the Soviet Union. This work sought to contribute to enlightening public opinion about the Soviet Union in the initial post-war period. Jerome Davis, born Jerome Dwight Davis (December 2, 1891 – October 19, 1979), was an international activist for peace and social reform, labor organizer, and sociologist who founded Promoting Enduring Peace. Davis spent 1916–1918 in Russia. He was sent to Russia to work with German POWs. He also set up YMCA centers for Russian soldiers. Upon American entry into World War I in 1917, he was made head of all YMCA work in Russia. He opposed US military intervention in Russia in favor of working with the new Soviet Union. During the 1920s, he returned to Russia several times and continued to advocate for Soviet cooperation. His chart of the construction of the Soviet government was published in Workers' Dreadnought. By 1920, however, he had returned to the States, finished at the Union Theological Seminary and in 1922 obtained a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University. Joseph Edward Davies (November 29, 1876 – May 9, 1958) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He was appointed by President Wilson to be Commissioner of Corporations in 1912, and First Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in 1915. He was the second Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg. From 1939 to 1941 Davies was Special assistant to Secretary of State Hull, in charge of War Emergency Problems and Policies. From 1942 through 1946 he was Chairman of President Roosevelt's War Relief Control Board. Ambassador Davies was Special Advisor of President Harry Truman and Secretary of State James F. Byrnes with rank of Ambassador at the Potsdam Conference in 1945.
In 1946, the New York Times in a review stated that: IN "Behind Soviet Power," Jerome Davis has written an interesting book that is frankly designed to counteract the flood of uninformed and often highly prejudiced comment on Russia, which today is rapidly falling into the pattern of the anti-Soviet propaganda of the Twenties.
Of all his publications, Behind Soviet Power stirred up the most attention, at least among anti-communists. Ilya Ehrenburg, a "Soviet newspaperman," wrote its forward. As the libertarian The Freeman magazine described in 1951:
There is that strong group in the Methodist Church led by Bishop Ward. Many have belonged to every subversive group in the nation. They love Soviet Russia; they apologize for her all the time... The Methodist Church is the largest of the Protestant denominations. Its Federation for Social Action publishes a Social Questions Bulletin, which goes to every Methodist clergyman. The Federation has among its members half the bishops of the church. It includes the heads of their largest theological schools, editors of their papers, heads of various important boards, ministers of their largest churches. To date none of them has been heard to object to what their Federation says. Take Jerome Davis, who apologizes for Russia every day and has backed many organizations which have been named as Communist fronts. His book Behind Soviet Power is one of the most outspoken apologies for Russia yet published. It was sent free of charge to more than 23,000 Methodist clergymen. With it went a letter stating that it was a gift from the Methodist Federation and adding that every clergyman must read it. There are some queer things in that book, as odd as some statements that Davis made when he spoke to the National Convention of the Methodists. Read them and wonder! Soviet concentration camps, according to Davis, are "simply places to keep criminals." On the jailing of innocent people, the shooting of those who oppose Russia in the slave nations, Davis has this to say: "If Russia sends innocent people to concentration camps and tightens up civil liberties, it's the fault of the American government." Just how is not revealed. He further says: "In the last thirty years the Soviet Union has a record for peace the equal of the United States." Again, "Back of all our fear is the demonstrated success in planned economy, first in the Soviet Union, then Poland and Czechoslovakia." I wonder what Davis has read lately?
He defended his reputation in a successful libel lawsuit. Condition: Fair / Fair.
Keywords: WW1, Soviet Union, War Correspondents, Cold War, Red Army, Dictator, Socialism, Propaganda, Nationalism. NKVD, Bolsheviks, Political Prisoners, Ilya Ehrenburg, Joseph Davies, Joseph Stalin
[Book #79461]
Price: $45.00