KENNETH. INGRAM. A History of the Cold War. Pp. 239. New York: Philosophical Library, 1955. $5.00

• Author: D.F. Fleming
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625630400121
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Subject Matter: Articles

149

would

be

the

penetrating

observation

that

&dquo;the

persistent flaunting

(sic)

of

the

con-

viction of

the

majority

would

make

gov-

ernment

impossible.&dquo;

Perhaps

we

shall

never

know

if

Mr.

Pearson,

who

is

an

un-

usually

frank

statesman,

permitted

himself

a

moment

of

cynicism

or

if

the

printer

let

him

down !

1

H.

F.

ANGUS

University

of

British

Columbia

Canada

KENNETH.

INGRAM.

A

History

of

the

Cold

War.

Pp. 239.

New

York:

Philo-

sophical

Library,

1955.

$5.00.

A

History

of

the

Cold

War

is

a

book

by

a

British

author

who

has

written

a

dozen

other

volumes

on

political

and

so-

cial

topics,

including

a

recent

history

of

World

War

II,

The

Years

of

Crisis,

out

of

which

this

volume

grew.

It

was

his

study

of

the

war

which

led

Ingram

to

attack

the

&dquo;fundamental

mis-

conception&dquo;

that

the

West

put

the

past

be-

hind

it

when

it

became

an

ally

of

Russia.

This

introductory

denial

of

one

of

our

most

fixed

ideas

will

make

the

book

un-

palatable

to

most

Americans.

An

even

greater

shock

to

our

cold

war

beliefs

is

to

be

found

in

the

conclusions

of

his

last

chapter:

(1)

that

the

Soviet

Union

never

at

any

time

intended

to

wage

a

large-scale

war

upon

the

West;

(2)

that

there

is

no

evidence

of

any

intent

to

wage

attrition

wars

through

her

Satellites;

(3)

and

that

the

two

acts

which

stirred

Europe

so

deeply,

the

Communist

seizure

of

Czecho:

slovakia

and

the

Berlin

blockade,

were

de-

fensive

efforts

to

consolidate

the

postwar

Soviet

sphere,

growing

out

of

the

earlier

stages

of

the

cold

war.

He

reasons

that

the

Berlin

blockade

did

not

occur

until:

(a)

the

West

was

setting

up

a

new

German

state,

with

a

new

capi-

tal,

thereby

removing

the

basic

reason

for

the

special

status

of

Berlin;

(b)

it

was

evident

that

the

West

intended

to

rearm

Germany;

and

(c)

the

West

introduced

a

currency’reform

which

would

force

a

simi-

lar

one

upon

the

Soviets.

In

the

Korean

War

we

suspect

Soviet

instigation,

but

he

maintains

that

&dquo;suspi-

cions

are

not

proof.&dquo;

When,

also,

we

abandoned

the

police

role

of

the

United

Nations

at

the

38th

Parallel

and

became

cobelligerents

with

South

Korea,

we

were

&dquo;no.

longer

morally

entitled

to

indict

China.&dquo;

Now

he

asks

whether

in

China’s

absence

from

the

United

Nations

Security

Council

any

action

taken

by

this

body

is

legal?

In

reaching

his

conclusions

Ingram

omits

much

supporting

evidence.

He

overlooks

almost

entirely

the

tremendous

importance

of

the

Truman

Doctrine

in

powering

the

cold

war.

Its

body

blow

to

the

Big

Four

Conference

on

Germany,

then

sitting,

is

not

mentioned.

The

great

role

of

the

atomic-arms

race

is

not

developed.

The

surging

tides

of

preventive-war

feeling

in

this

country

are

not

described.

However,

the

author has

not

offered

the

book

as

a

final

study

of

the

cold

war.

It

is

a

first

outline.

Even

those

who

reject

his

belief

that

&dquo;toughness&dquo;

was

the

worst

possible

cure

for

the

deep-seated

Soviet

fear

and

in-

feriority

complexes

cannot

afford

to

miss

reading

this

book,

since

it

forecasts

the

considerations

they

have

to

meet.

D.

F.

FLEMING

Vanderbilt

University

A.

H.

BIRCH.

Federalism,

Finance

and

Social

Legislation

in

Canada,

Australia,

and

the

United

States.

Pp.

xiv,

314.

Oxford,

England:

Oxford

University

Press,

1955.

$5.60.

In

Canada

and

Australia

the

central

gov-

ernment

has

almost

completely

absorbed

customs

and

income

taxes,

as

well

as

most

excises,

thus

depriving

the

local

govern-

ments

of

revenue.

Without

subsidies

from

the

central

government

the

poorer

states,

especially,

would

suffer,

and

with

the

growth

of

social

legislation,

where

equality

of

treatment

throughout

the

country

is

de-

sired,

they

would

be

unable

to

bear

the

burden.

The

Australian

states

derive

at

least

60

per

cent

of

their

income

from

subsidies;

the

Canadian

provinces,

except

for

Quebec,

at

least

30

per

cent.

The

tendency

since

the

war

has

been

for

the

federal

contributions

to

grow.

In

the

United

States

the

figure

has

risen

from

12

to

20

per

cent

during

this

period.

In

Canada,

from

the

beginning,

direct

subsidies

have

been

granted

in

return

for