THE BASIS OF SOVIET STRENGTH

This will probably be a practical reference book in relation to those environmental and human factors behind the achievements of the Soviet -- a book which business men concerned with the Soviet market will find packed with valuable data. But for the average reader, it is pedantic and dull reading. The geographical factors, the reserves of natural resources (coal, oil, iron ore, metals, lumber) which make the Soviet almost self sufficient, the topography, climactic conditions, population problems, agricultural problems, soil types, etc. He outlines the political structure and the regional framework; he shows how state planning has been essential to industrialization of a backward country, dominantly agricultural, and that the planned economy extends to agriculture as well. He surveys the regions of Soviet Europe, Soviet Middle Asia, Soviet Arctic, and appraises the geostrategy and future of the Soviet Union, and America's relations to it. He recognises the Soviet as a top flight military and economic power (aided by supplies from the United States but producing a majority of their own supplies) and pleads for an informed American viewpoint, an acceptance of the necessity of balance between imports and exports...