DIMITROV OF BULGARIA: A Political Biography of Dr. Georgi M. Dimitrov

by Charles A. Moser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1979

Given the level of general knowledge of Bulgaria, potential readers will be forgiven for assuming this to be the story of the Bulgarian communist chief Georgi Dimitrov--actually, this is the biography of the other one. G. M. Dimitrov was the leader of the Agrarian Union until he fled Bulgaria in the face of the communist coup in 1945, and Moser, Dimitrov's son-in-law, is lavish in his praise for this Dimitrov's politics. Tracing Dimitrov's rise from a Bulgarian enclave in Thrace to eventual political success in Sofia, Moser emphasizes the uniqueness of his peasant-based political party, but spends a great deal of time on the wheeling and dealing among party leaders in the capital rather than on programs. Until the final chapter, which outlines the content of a political position based on the land, Dimitrov's main accomplishment seems to be survival; after being imprisoned during various coups, Dimitrov organized partisans during World War II, and then returned to jail courtesy of the communists, who--Moser alleges--tortured him savagely. The stupefying details of Balkan politics gave way, in Dimitrov's post-1945 exile, to his crude anti-communist crusade in the U.S. Moser claims relevance for this story on a number of grounds in addition to the agrarian orientation of Dimitrov's movement--including the evidence it provides that the Soviet Union was the originator of the Cold War--but whereas Czech history has a pivotal place in the history of this period, Bulgaria remained peripheral, and Moser's biography never gets beyond a purely regional interest.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Caroline House (236 Forest Park Pl., Ottawa, Ill. 61350)

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION