Rich Baldwin Bloomington High School

Do historians always have to produce long, drawn-out examinations in order to tell the complete story? Not if The Specter of Communism serves as the example. In one hundred thirty, very efficient pages, author Melvyn P. Leffler effectively examines the developing relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1917-1953. While simplistic and brief in some areas, especially with regards to the Lenin regime and the early years of Soviet communism, Leffler provides detailed insight into post-war tensions by focusing on the strategic goals of Truman and Stalin and their negotiations with the post-war world. Unlike most supplemental works, The Specter of Communism would prove very manageable in the high school classroom. Throw in a few select primary source documents, and Leffler's work would provide the base for a very insightful course/unit on the cold war era.

Leffler's main focus is on the U.S. reaction/response to the growth of communism within the Soviet Union and its subsequent attempts to spread the theory worldwide. As a result, the work is shorthanded in its explanation of the reasons behind the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the civil war that ensured, and only takes a brief look at the damage done by the U.S. and British refusal to commit to Soviet strategy during World War II. Yet at the same time, Leffler's insight into U.S. attempts to isolate and undermine the communist party during the 1920s and 1930s, and his analysis of the position of strength from which the U.S. was able to conduct foreign relations in the late 1940s, go far beyond that of the typical cold war era work. In the end, the reader is left with a story that may lack some in detail, but is complete in content.

The words "concise" and "succinct" appear in nearly every review of The Specter of Communism. It is this characteristic that makes the work a very useful addition to the history classroom. Leffler very efficiently tells the story behind a complicated theme in American history.

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