Michael Jabara Carley, a historian of relations between the West and Soviet Union, is professor of history at the University of Montreal. His research on this subject includes years in Soviet and European archives. His books include Revolution and Intervention: The French Government and the Russian Civil War, 1917–1919 and 1939: The Alliance That Never Was and the Coming of World War II.

• Chapter 1: How It Began: Revolution, Intervention, Civil War, 1917–1921Chapter 2: “We Must Trade and They Must Trade”: First Attempts at Peaceful Coexistence, 1921–1922Chapter 3: Which Way Soviet Policy? Confusion and Incoherence, 1922–1923Chapter 4: “Hedged in by Reservations”: Peaceful Coexistence in London and Paris, 1923–1924Chapter 5: “Save the Family Silver”: Fearful Coexistence in Paris and Berlin, 1924–1925Chapter 6: “Steady! Don’t Let Us Get Jumpy”: Revolution in China, 1924–1925Chapter 7: Principles and Reprisals: Hostile Coexistence in London and Washington, 1925–1926Chapter 8: “The Blind and the Lame”: Rapallo Reaffirmed,1925–1927Chapter 9: Red Scare, War Scare: China and the Rupture of Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1925–1927Chapter 10: “Colossal Misfortune”: Hostile Coexistence in Paris, 1925–1927Chapter 11: “These Are Times of Quick Suspicions”: Sullen Coexistence, 1927–1930Chapter 12: “Always a Trump in Our Game”: Rapallo Sustained, 1927–1930 Chapter 13: Conclusion: Sorting it OutSelected Bibliography

This superb book offers a compelling reinterpretation of the first decade of Soviet foreign policy, up to the late 1920s. Carley has thoroughly mined newly available Soviet archives on foreign policy while utilizing an extensive array of British, French, US, and other documents. The result is a lively, fresh analysis of Soviet foreign relations, mainly with the West, and ways Soviet relations with the West interacted with those in the East, especially in China. The author convincingly argues that the Soviet Commissariat of Foreign Affairs pursued a goal of normalizing relations with other countries to bolster the security of the Soviet Union through trading and other relationships. At the same time, foreign affairs professionals had to deal with leaders of the Communist International, who sought to promote revolution wherever possible, as well as with other political leaders who often inflamed the international situation with extremist rhetoric intended mainly for use in domestic power struggles. Viewing this period as the first cold war, Carley emphasizes that Soviet-Western relations were hostile from the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels and libraries.