Book Reviews : Communism and British Intellectuals. By NEAL WOOD. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959. Pp. 256. $4.00.) The Decline of American Communism: A History of the Communist Party of the United States since 1945. By DAVID A. SHANNON. (New York: Har court, Brace and Company, 1959. Pp. xiii, 425. $7.50.)
| Published date | 01 December 1961 |
| Author | J. Leo Cefkin |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296101400446 |
| Date | 01 December 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1002
In
some
respects
the
title
is
a
misnomer:
it
is
more
than
a
study
of
foreign
relations
and
considerable
space
is
devoted
to
a
study
of
the
domestic
life
of
Spain.
Whitaker
expertly
discusses
such
problems
as
Spain
and
the
Catholic
Church,
the
caudillo
and
his
supporters,
the
disloyal
opposition,
economic
facts,
etc.
To
those
whose
knowledge
of
Spain
is
largely
pre-Civil
War
in
nature,
the
discussion
of
the
changing
face
of
Spain,
the
new
cleavages,
the
Opus
Dei,
and
the
course
of
U.S.
bases
in
Spain
will
be
particularly
enlightening.
Whitaker
effectively
destroys
many
of
the
myths
of
the
Franco
regime,
which
have
sprung
up
in
the
United
States
(even
some
supposedly
highly
educated
Americans
have
been
deluded,
consciously
or
unconsciously,
into
believing
that
Franco
was
not
really
committed
to
the
Axis
cause).
This
book
is
also
indispensable
to
the
per-
son
analyzing
our
relations
with
a
rightist
dictatorship
still
existing
in
Europe.
Whitaker
believes
that
the
United
States
has
incurred
an
unnecessarily
heavy
political
and
moral
liability
in
the
policy
toward
Spain
because
of
the
domination
of
a
narrow
military
concept
of
strategy.
He
attempts
in
his
last
chap-
ter
to
set
forth
some
ways
to
place
the
relations
with
Spain
on
a
sounder
footing.
This
reviewer
remains
deeply
aroused
by
the
origin
and
character
of
Franco
Spain
and
regrets
that
Franco
was
not
destroyed
along
with
the
German
and
Italian
dictators
who
helped
to
spawn
him.
Nevertheless,
it
is
a
fact
of
international
life
that
the
loyalists
lost
the
war
(thanks
in
part
to
ineffective
action
on
the
part
of
the
United
States),
and
that
we
must
make
the
best
of
a
poor
situation,
ever
hoping
that
some
day
Spain
will
once
more
be
free
and
truly
deserving
of
American
support.
It
is
hoped
that
Whitaker’s
excellent
contribution
to
scholarship
in
the
field
of
Spanish
studies
will
not
remain
alone
for
long.
More
scholarly
works
on
Spain
are
needed.
Political
Science
departments
should
encourage
studies
of
Spain
in
as
many
aspects
of
government
and
politics
as
possible.
We
need
to
give
wider
attention
to
the
country
that
some
view
as
being
the
birthplace
of
free
society
and
the
legislative
process.
Dissertations
and
articles
on
Spanish
political
theory,
on
the
contributions
of
prolific
authors
such
as
Joaquin
Costa,
and
on
Spanish
socialism
and
anarchism
would
be
particularly
welcome.
We
should
not
forget
so
easily
that
truly
La
Guerra
Empezo
en
Espana
(the
war
began
in
Spain).
Orange
Cove,
California
GEORGE
A.
HOPPER
Communism
and
British
Intellectuals.
By
NEAL
WOOD.
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press,
1959.
Pp.
256.
$4.00.)
The
Decline
of
American
Communism:
A
History
of
the
Communist
Party
of
the
United
States
since
1945.
By
DAVID
A.
SHANNON.
(New
York:
Har-
court,
Brace
and
Company,
1959.
Pp.
xiii,
425.
$7.50.)
The
books
under
review
are
interested
in
different
aspects
of
the
Communist
party’s
operation.
Professor
Wood’s
concern
is
the
unique
relationship
of
the
British
intellectual
community
to
the
Communist
Party
of
Great
Britain
while
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