CALL TO GREATNESS

by Adlai E. Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 1954

These three essays were delivered as the Godkin Lectures at Harvard in 1953 after Stevenson's tour of thirty countries on the free side of the iron curtain, from which he returned with an even sharper view of our ""troubled world""- troubled by revolution of which ""communism is more the scavenger than the inspiration"". It is also a world in which the Western ideas we assume- for others- have not been universally accepted; one where technology, as well as ideology, has given rise to the power of the Soviet; one where the ""suddenly unchained aspirations"" of hundreds of millions in the Near East, Asia and Africa have bred the tensions and troubles which Russia may cash in on; and one where- confronting this ""revolution of rising expectations"" we must strengthen and sustain the balance of power we have so far achieved. And so, we must recognize that it is not ""one world""- or even the possibility of one world- which we face- but three worlds- the Communist world, the allied world, the uncommitted world. We cannot buy agreement or alliances- but we can base our leadership on humility, and on a flexibility tempered by an understanding of others- and their needs- rather than the superimposition of our own..... The clear brilliance, the cogent eloquence of all that Stevenson has spoken- or written- enhance the challenge here.

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1954

Categories: NONFICTION