Routledge Western Intellectuals and the Soviet Union 1920-40

This scholarly work examines the paradoxical phenomenon of Western intellectuals with liberal values supporting the Soviet Union during the interwar years, despite its documented human rights violations. The book investigates how this seemingly contradictory situation developed by focusing on the institutional mechanisms and cultural organisations that facilitated Soviet influence in the West. Through detailed analysis of organisations 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, the author reveals how coordinated cultural diplomacy shaped intellectual opinion across Europe and America. Part of the BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies, this academic text offers essential insights into Cold War origins and the role of cultural soft power in twentieth-century geopolitics, making it invaluable for historians, political scientists, and anyone studying Soviet-Western relations and intellectual history.