Russian Spring (Selwyn and Blown, 12s. 6d.) gives as good
a traveller's eye view of Russia as any recent book on the subject. Mr. Stucley wisely entered Russia from the extreme south in order to see it in true perspective as a semi- Oriental country, and thus avoid the sudden and unfair contrast with Western Europe which has misled so many visitors who travelled direct to Moscow. His route was through the Ukraine, across the Black Sea to the Caucasus, through Soviet Armenia and north to Moscow and Leningrad, with the usual excursions to farms and factories on the way. No expert, but a careful if unad- venturous observer, Mr. Stucley draws an unbiased picture of what he saw and his condusions are reasonable. He is most interesting when dealing with the cultural effect of the government's attempt at compromise between the earlier ideals of the intellectuals and the taste of the masses. In every form of art, for instance, pre-War realism is encouraged, and advanced modernists are banned. We are left with the impression -that -nowhere in Europe or Asia ..could scientific materialism have a more difficult soil to grow in, ye; nowhere greater possibilities of success.
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