DURANTY REPORTS RUSSIA

Duranty is the ideal commentator. His feet firmly on the ground, his eyes and ears wide open, he is able to digest and evaluate intelligently what he sees and hears. Ten years' residence in Russia has given him rare opportunities. This book is a collection of excerpts from his newspaper articles from 1921 on, grouped under convenient headings: The Famine and American Relief; The Soviet Government and the Church; the New Economic Policy; The Five Year Plan; The Socialization of Agriculture; Party Policy, and so on. The opening chapter, Fifteen Years of Soviet Power, synopsizes the period, and an Appendix contains much that is valuable. Taken together, the material forms a vivid panorama and intensely interesting first-hand reports of the gradual changes in practice and doctrine. Duranty has faith in the future -- he understands the Russians and Russia, but holds no brief for one side or the other. Style fluent and readable, material particularly valuable for a general survey.