Book Reviews : The United States in World Affairs, 1949. By RICHARD P. STEBBINS. Introduction by George F. Kennan. (New York: Harper and Brothers, for the Council on Foreign Relations. 1950. Pp. xvii, 574. $5.00.)

• Author: J. William Robinson
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400310
• Published date: 01 September 1951
• Date: 01 September 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

492

Leopold

Ranke:

The

Formative

Years.

By

THEODORE

H.

VON

LAUE

(Princeton:

Princeton

University

Press.

1950.

Pp.

ix,

230.

$4.00.)

Leopold

Ranke

was

a

firm

believer

in

conservatism

as

a

system

that

was

compatible

with

the

interests

of

the

average

citizen,

and

not

simply

with

those

of

the

vested

interests.

Von

Laue’s

book

contains

translations

of

Ranke’s

essays

and

a

biographical

sketch

in

which

the

philosophy

of

the

great

historian

and

his

methods

of

work

and

analysis

are

capably

pre-

sented.

It

is

to

be

regretted

that

only

&dquo;the

formative

years,&dquo;

1795-1836,

are

covered

in

the

biography.

’

The

English

translations

of

two

of

Ranke’s

essays,

&dquo;Dialogue

on

Politics,&dquo;

and

&dquo;The

Great

Powers,&dquo;

comprise

a

third

of

the

book.

They

illustrate

both

the

dominating

concern

of

the

historian

with

political

mat-

ters,

and

the

statement

of

biographer

Von

Laue

that

the

frequently

quoted

phrase,

&dquo;wie

es

eigentlich

gea,vesen,&dquo;

describes

simply

the

starting

point,

not

the

ultimate

objective

of

Ranke.

Exhaustive

investigation

of

the

his-

torical

sources

and

accuracy

in

presenting

their

contents

were

coupled

by

Ranke

with

an

attempt

to

find

the

inner

meaning

of

things,

to

see &dquo;

’the

hand

of

God’

behind

the

historical

appearance.&dquo;

Ranke

believed

that

history

thus

studied

should

reveal

the

&dquo;truth,&dquo;

and

for

him

it

did;

in

the

political

field

he

found

it

associated

with

the

monarchial

bureaucratic

state,

with

the

mid-century

Prussia

which

he

served.

Some

may

question

his

conclusion

in

this

respect,

but

few

will

question

his

observations

in

the

Dialogue

that

in

the

state

&dquo;The

common

advantage

requires

that

everybody

do

what

he

is

best

fitted

for,&dquo;

or

that

&dquo;Taxes

consume

quite

a

significant

share

of

the

nation’s

income.&dquo;

W.

HAROLD

DALGLIESH.

University

of

Utah.

The

United

States

in

World

Affairs,

1949.

By

RICHARD

P.

STEBBINS.

Intro-

duction

by

George

F.

Kennan.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers,

for

the

Council

on

Foreign

Relations.

1950.

Pp.

xvii,

574.

$5.00.)

The

issuance

of

this

volume

returns

the

well-accepted

series

of

the

Council

on

Foreign

Relations

to

a

yearly

basis

(the

previous

volume

was

for

1948-1949),

and

succeeding

volumes

are

scheduled

for

early

sum-

mer

publication

annually.

With

the

exception

of

the

war

period,

The

United

States

in

W orld

A f f airs

has,

since

1931,

attempted

to

give

an

authoritative

and

interesting

over-all

picture

of

contemporary

United

States

foreign

relations.

Thus

it

always

faces

the

task of

presenting

rather

mature

analyses

of

the

immediate

past-the

period

which,

as

George

F.

Kennan

says

in

his

introduction

to

the

present

volume,

is

the

most

neg-

lected

area

of

diplomatic

history

and

the

one

most

in

need

of

under-

standing.