We Cannot Escape History

WITH Lincoln’s famous phrase as his text, a widely traveled foreign correspondent writes a vivid account of the international anarchy that led up fatalistically to the tragedy of the Second World War. A passionate supporter of President Roosevelt’s foreign policy, he was “ashamed to be an American” after Munich. Without trying to prettify Stalin’s grim methods of rule, he pays a tribute to the heroism and immense sacrifices of the Russian people, estimating Russian casualties in the first year of the war at six million dead, wounded, and prisoners. Sometimes his enthusiasm gets the better of his historical accuracy as when he identifies Napoleon’s generals with the revolutionaries who created Jacobin France, or accuses isolationists of “declining to fortify Guam.” when no such proposal was ever laid before Congress. But it is a colorful survey of world politics and holds out the optimistic expectation that if we win the war “we can face the prospect of a century of peace and a new renaissance of mankind.”