MAN AND HIS DEEDS

by Manes Sperber ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1970

Sperber's historiographical preference is the narrative--as opposed, especially, to dialectical and ""heroist"" approaches--a mode whose chief value is its deference to the breadth and multiplicity of historical cause. Yet cause is precisely the problem he addresses in this collection of essays (written since 1963); and because his explications involve the translation of individual psychology to political behavior--of groups as well as individuals--his results remain arbitrary and, often, suspiciously obvious. As a political observer his distinctions are not over-nice, particularly between communism and fascism (which he still identifies with Hitler and Stalin, the twin poltergeists of political science) and as a psychologist he is sometimes startlingly indifferent to extra-personal factors (Oswald's perennial failures and consequent desperate hatred of success are sufficient evidence to close the case). Instead he accepts truisms of both fields, a priori, as basis for a kind of moralized journalism whose effectiveness is best rendered in psychological terms, as reinforcement for attitudes of extreme moderation. Dr. Sperber is fairly well-known as a novelist, critic, essayist and editor.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION