Western Intellectuals and the Soviet Union, 1920-40

Download or read book Western Intellectuals and the Soviet Union, 1920-40 written by Ludmila Stern and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-10-17 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the appalling record of the Soviet Union on human rights questions, many western intellectuals with otherwise impeccable liberal credentials were strong supporters the Soviet Union in the interwar period. This book explores how this seemingly impossible situation came about. Focusing in particular on the work of various official and semi-official bodies, including Comintern, the International Association of Revolutionary Writers, the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and the Foreign Commission of the Soviet Writers' Union, this book shows how cultural propaganda was always a high priority for the Soviet Union, and how successful this cultural propaganda was in seducing so many Western thinkers.