Book Reviews : Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in Capitalist Society. By BERTELL OLLMAN. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Pp. xvi, 325. $10.50.) Alienation and the Soviet Economy. By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971. PP. 121. $6.00.)

• Author: Peter A. Toma
• Date: 01 December 1972
• Published date: 01 December 1972
• DOI: 10.1177/106591297202500422
• Subject Matter: Articles

798
the Hahn piece, the closest there is to solid social science writing, is a piece without
tables from Mental Hygiene, and the Wilson selection is from the New York Times
Magazine, not a professional journal. i1Thile some of the best pieces are from gen-
eral magazines -
including an eyewitness view- of a Spanish Harlem riot and Ernest
Van Den Haag’s trenchant criticisms of government poverty programs, both from
National Reuiez.v, and a thoughtful essay by Dr. Spock on his change of view about
children and toy guns, from McCall’s - students do not need more Time and U.S.
News and World Report, not to mention screaming articles from the Peoria Star.
All our students, but particularly those in the junior colleges, at whom this collec-
tion apparently is aimed, must be exposed to social science materials first-hand if
they are to understand them, so we don’t relegate them to an educational &dquo;lower
track.&dquo; This volume is no help in this regard, and it represents as well a collective
publishing failure - by the editors in assembling and (not) commenting on the
material, those who may have reviewed (?) the proposed format, and the publisher,
for not having intervened, leaving us with a product well nigh impossible to teach
from without dismembering (surgery is too gentle) and total reconstruction.
STEVE WASBY
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Alienation: Marx’s Conception of Man in Capitalist Society. By BERTELL OLLMAN.
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Pp. xvi, 325. $10.50.)
Alienation and the Soviet Economy. By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS. (Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1971. P
. 121. $6.00.)
Bertell Ollman’s book is not just another publication dealing with Marxism -
it is an unusual and interesting study. Instead of examining Karl Marx’s ideas as
a guide to action, Ollman has undertaken the difficult task of analyzing Marx’s
theory of alienation which considers both the individual and human nature as its
main targets. In a truly...