Research Catalog

Title

The Soviet mind : Russian culture under communism / Isaiah Berlin ; edited by Henry Hardy with a new introduction ; foreword by Strobe Talbott ; glossary by Helen Rappaport.

Author

Berlin, Isaiah, 1909-1997

Publication

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2016.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Hardy, Henry

Description

lii, 261 pages : illustrations; 22 cm

Summary

"With a revised foreword by Brookings President Strobe Talbott and a new introduction by Berlin's editor, Henry Hardy. George Kennan, the architect of US policy toward the Soviet Union, called Isaiah Berlin 'the patron saint among the commentators of the Russian scene.' In The Soviet Mind, Berlin proves himself fully worthy of that accolade. Although the essays in this book were originally written to explore the tensions between Soviet communism and Russian culture, the thinking about the Russian mind that emerges is as relevant today under Putin's post-communist Russia as it was when this book first appeared more than a decade ago. This Brookings Classic brings together Berlin's writings about the Soviet Union. Among the highlights are accounts of Berlin's meetings with the Russian writers in the aftermath of the war; a celebrated memorandum he wrote for the British Foreign Office in 1945 about the state of the arts under Stalin; Berlin's account of Stalin's manipulative 'artificial dialectic'; portraits of Pasternak and poet Osip Mandel'shtam; Berlin's survey of Russian culture based on a visit in 1956; and a postscript reflecting on the fall of the Berlin Wall and other events in 1989. Henry Hardy prepared the essays for publication; his introductory discussions describe their history. In his foreword, revised for this new edition, Brookings's Strobe Talbott, a long-time expert on Russia and the Soviet Union, relates the essays to Berlin's other work. The essays and other pieces in The Soviet Mind-which includes a new essay, 'Marxist versus Non-Marxist Ideas in Soviet Policy,' and a summary of a talk on communism-represent Berlin at his most brilliant, and are invaluable for policy-makers, students and anyone interested in Russian politics and thought-past, present and future"--

Series Statement

A Brookings classic

Uniform Title

Brookings classics.

Subjects

• Politics and culture > Soviet Union
• Berlin, Isaiah, 1909-1997 > Travel > Soviet Union
• Soviet Union > Intellectual life
• Communism > Social aspects > Soviet Union
• Arts > Political aspects > Soviet Union

Note

• Foreword to the Brookings Classic edition / Strobe Talbott -- Editor's introduction to the first edition -- Editor's introduction to the Brookings classic edition -- The arts in Russia under Stalin -- A visit to Leningrad -- A great Russian writer -- Conversations with Akhmatova and Pasternak -- Boris Pasternak -- Why the Soviet Union chooses to insulate itself -- The artificial dialectic : Generalissimo Stalin and the art of government -- Four weeks in the Soviet Union -- Soviet Russian culture -- The survival of the Russian intelligentsia -- Appendix: Marxist versus Non-Marxist Ideas in Soviet Policy; Communism.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Call Number

JFD 16-5520

ISBN

• 9780815728870
• 0815728875

LCCN

2016029971

OCLC

954134247

Author

Berlin, Isaiah, 1909-1997, author.

Title

The Soviet mind : Russian culture under communism / Isaiah Berlin ; edited by Henry Hardy with a new introduction ; foreword by Strobe Talbott ; glossary by Helen Rappaport.

Publisher

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2016.

Edition

Brookings classic edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

A Brookings classic

Brookings classics.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Added Author

Hardy, Henry, editor.

Other Form:

Online version: Berlin, Isaiah, 1909-1997, author. Soviet mind Brookings classic edition. Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2016 9780815728887 (DLC) 2016034500

Research Call Number

JFD 16-5520