BOOKS
THIS WEEK'S BOOKS
Miss Eam \ COLDAIAN is one of the most famous of anarchists, one of t he most idealistic of revolutionaries, a true follower of Prince Kropotkin. When she was deported from America she went to Russia ; and, though she was not in agreement with the arbitrary government of the Bolsheviks, she expected to find much to raise her hopes and warm her heart. Messrs. Doubleday, Page and Co. publish the record of her experiences in two \vitites ; Ms Disillusionment in Russia, and My Further Disillusionment in Russia. All her expectations that there would he some measure of freedom, sonic spring of ideal- ism, under the Bolsheviks wer! soon disproved. She found that anarchists in especial were abominated and ill-used. She found that t he working classes were no better off than before. Bolshevism, indeed, was nothing but a ruthless and ineompe-. tent bureaucracy. For the most part the new governing ehis,es were corrupt ; they were certainly selfish. She never
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lost her balance, however ; she allows fully for the difficulties of the Government. She is no mongcrcr of atrocities.; she says, for example, that it was the White Guards and not the Reds who were responsible for " pogroms " ; and for the rest they were about equal in bigotry and the suppression of personal liberty. Her most interesting chapters are on the boasted educational and artistic renaissance in Russia. The Soviet theatres went well enough until Lunacharski, the Commissar for Education, confined them to performing his own plays. At one time he was a quite brilliant playwright but lie degenerated quickly when his vanity was allowed full scope. The most interesting artistic experiments, Miss Goldman thinks, were all started before the Bolsheviks came into power. Since then there has been nothing especial to
boast of in the arts, in literature, or in education. •
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