Why Lenin? Why Stalin?; A Reappraisal of the Russian Revolution, 1900-1930
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1964. First Edition [stated] Presumed first printing. Trade paperback. 242 pages. Footnotes. Suggestions for Further Reading. Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. Slightly cocked. Underling and ink marks/comments noted. Name of previous owner inside the back cover. This is one of the Critical Periods of History series. Theodore H. Von Laue (June 22, 1916 in Frankfurt, Germany – January 22, 2000 in Worcester, Massachusetts) was an American historian and professor emeritus of history at Clark University. In 1937 Von Laue was sent to Princeton University by his father Max von Laue, who did not want him to grow up "in a country run by gangsters". He finished his studies with a Ph.D. about the social legislation of Otto von Bismarck. He then taught at Swarthmore College, the University of California, Riverside, and the Washington University in St. Louis, when he finally became professor of European History at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was there from 1970 until 1982. One of Von Laue first works has been a biographical study about Leopold von Ranke showing that his "scientific objectivity" was much influenced by the romantics in the 19th century. He then switched to studies of German and especially Russian history, which lead him to consider the influences as the Western Civilization on countries of a different one. An example for this is his book about Sergei Witte's failure to industrialize Russia, blocked by conservative forces including the last Russian tsar Nicholas II. Better known are the following books, which he wrote about this topic: "Why Lenin? Why Stalin?" published in 1964, and his "The World Revolution of Westernization" Derived from a Kirkus review: Subtitled: A Reappraisal of the Russian Revolution, 1900-1930, the author discusses his view of what amounts to a series of revolutionary crises in the political philosophy of Russian leaders after the 1917 coup. The author sees these as reactions to inescapable global pressures as well as responses to the immediate nation-problems of the new government. The book is a readable and thorough investigation of judgments that have been, too often for the author's taste, "based on simplifications, generalizations and 'images'" Condition: Fair.
Keywords: Russian Revolution, Communism, Revolution of 1905, Autocracy, Bolshevik, Lenin, Stalin, Russian Civil War, Provisional Government
[Book #85709]
Price: $22.50