Book Reviews : Settling Disputes in Soviet Society: The Formative Years of Legal Institutions. By JOHN N. HAZARD. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1960. Pp. xiv, 534. $9.50.)

• Author: Richard C. Spencer
• Published date: 01 September 1961
• Date: 01 September 1961
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296101400329
• Subject Matter: Articles

789

reknown.&dquo;

A

famous

Israeli

port

is

called

&dquo;Eilat&dquo;

in

one

place

and

&dquo;Elath&dquo;

in

another.

The

term

&dquo;middle

east&dquo;

is

consistently

presented

in

lower

case.

The

monograph

also

contains

many

errors

of

fact.

Moreover,

there

is

an

abundance

of

half-truths

and

inadequately

supported

value

judgments.

The

following

are

a

few

representative

samples:

&dquo;The

anti-foreign

and

nationalist

sentiments

of

most

middle

eastern

governments

has

[sic]

not

permitted

members

of

minority

groups

to

take

an

active

part

in

political

affairs.&dquo;

&dquo;As

compared

to

the

middle

eastern

Arab

governments,

the

governments

of

...

North

African

Arab

states

have

followed

moderate

and

far-sighted

policies.

This

is

due

to

the

existence

of

effective

and

unselfish

nationalist

movements.&dquo;

These

statements

are

as

indefensible

as

is

the

assertion

that

&dquo;Arab

nationalism

has

strong

anti-

Christian

overtones.&dquo;

Moreover,

Algeria,

Syria,

and

Kuwait

are

erroneously

referred

to

as

&dquo;states.&dquo;

And

to

say

that

&dquo;only

the

loyalty

of

the

Arab

legion&dquo;

has

kept

King

Hussein

in

power,

while

ignoring

the

enormous

British

and

American

financial

subsidy,

is

thoroughly

misleading.

Nor

is

it

true

that

General

Kassim

killed

King

Feisal

and

Nuri-Es

Said.

And

by

no

stretch

of

the

imagina-

tion

can

Saudi

Arabia

be

called

&dquo;an

American

protectorate.&dquo;

Serious

students

of

Middle

Eastern

affairs

will

find

fault

with

almost

every

page

of

this

monograph.

It

is

a

work

that

mentions

almost

all

the

significant

developments

in

the

contemporary

Middle

East

without

adequately

describing

or

analyzing

any

of

them.

It

will

be

a

source

of

comfort,

nevertheless,

for

all

who

are

convinced

that

Arab

nationalism

has

been

sterile

and

that

&dquo;right&dquo;

has

gen-

erally

been

on

the

side

of

Israel.

Washington

State

University

H.

PAUL

CASTLEBERRY

Settling

Disputes

in

Soviet

Society:

The

Formative

Years

of

Legal

Institutions.

By

JOHN

N.

HAZARD.

(New

York:

Columbia

University

Press.

1960.

Pp.

xiv,

534.

$9.50.)

This

book

examines,

as

&dquo;formative

years,&dquo;

the

period

beginning

with

the

Bolshevik

revolution

in

1917

and

ending

about

1929.

During

this

period

the

Soviets

were

creating

legal

and

juridical

institutions,

after

Marxist

revolutionary

dogmas

had

held

that

the

state,

the

law,

and

the

courts

would

be

unnecessary

and

wither

away

in

the

anticipated

proletarian

society.

The

going

was

rough.

The

revolution

and

the

security

of

the

new

state

were

threatened

by

civil

war.

The

New

Economic

Policy

(NEP)

gave

some

measure

of

reprieve

to

a

limited

capitalism,

and

this

was

followed

by

the

more

positive

first

five-year

plan,

so

that

judicial

concepts

were

evolving

and

in

flux.

Throughout

the

period,

moreover,

the

demand

for

political

flexibility

of

the

executive

on

behalf

of

the

safety

of

the

state

induced

the

maintenance

of

revolutionary

and

military

tribunals

and

administrative

boards

independently

of

the

courts

and

legal

codes.

The

author,

in

testing

the

revolutionary

assumption

that

only

the

simple,

wise-man

functions

would

suffice

to

serve

the

social

order,

has

done

far

more

than

merely

describe

the

settlement

of

disputes.

He

has,

rather,

given

an

expo-