In the Beginning...

If Plato, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein were challenged to conspire to create a "Universal Theory of Everything," encompassing the broad spectrum of natural and cosmic history, the realities of the present as they face mankind, and the obvious deductive trajectories of the ever elusive “future,” then these three old ghosts might return in just moments, very clear and calm, and having used most of their deliberative moment choosing which would speak, the winner would concisely report: “We are all going to die.”

EveryDay Stalinism: A Review

Fitzpatrick, Sheila. Everyday Stalinism, Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930's. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, 288 pages. Reviewed by Steven Harkness.

For every perceived error of communism, there is an obvious historical equivalent within western democracy. To truly understand this reality, however, one must search beyond the military histories, which deal in belligerent atrocity for land acquisition, beyond the political histories, which deal in intrigue-driven bloodthirsty power struggles, and beyond the religious histories, which impose fantasy and superstition on the natural relationships between cause and effect. To see the grand hypocrisy inherent in the ubiquitous twentieth century ideological feud that was the Cold War, one must stand on the streets of Smolensk, Kiev, Leningrad, and try to sleep in a crowded kitchen corner with no heat or food, and hear the endless confrontations between neighbors, families, local authorities, and even children, as the old wedge of utopian liberalism inspired some, and terrified others. For this, the modern student of history is well-served by Sheila FitzPatrick's Everyday Stalinism. Her thoughtful and in-depth approach to Ordinary Life In Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930's takes that elusive “street view” of the real outcomes of mankind's best and worst intentions, as measured by the only true sociological test of an idea, the people themselves. The result is a hauntingly familiar narrative of misguided optimism, nationalist bravado, and unintended consequences, that bridges the gap between the world's foremost revolutionary peoples, who happen to be still suffering the symptoms of each nation's most debilitating xenophobic ailment: mutual enmity, suspicion, and, in the worst of times, free-wheeling antagonism.

Empire of Ideas: A Review

Hart, Justin. Empire of Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, 279 pages.

Reviewed by Steven Harkness

For general audiences, Empire of Ideas might seem like a tough sell. On the surface, it is the story of some boring old politicians creating dozens of obscure government offices whose mission statements were as vague as they were verbose. During the period examined, certainly more exciting stories were being written of young boys, ages 16 to 22, strapping into wooden gliders without props or lights, being hitched to English planes in the dark of night, to be towed across the English channel and released against large walls Hitler had constructed against just such wild impossibilities. For stories like this, the casual reader may be better suited with Stephen Ambrose's D-Day, June 6,1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. For “chutzpah”, Empire of Ideas might seem wanting. But for the passionate students of history, and for Cold War connoisseurs especially, Justin Hart's definitive exploration of US Public Diplomacy during the Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower administrations offers a clean, well polished, and razor sharp thrill-ride through the most mysterious and poorly understood annals of American History.