'RUSSIAN HOLIDAY'
Sns,—May I draw attention to some errors of fact upon which Mr. J. E. M. Arden purports to base his review of my book Russian Holiday in the Spectator of November 11?
He criticises me for 'asserting baldly' that meat consumption has gone up in the USSR since pre-war days, quoting a speech of Khrushchev's in 1953 admitting a decline in livestock. It does not seem to have occurred to Mr. Arden that numbers of livestock and internal meat consumption are not necessarily correlated, and it is astounding that he does not appear to have any acquaintance with Khrushchev's famous report of two years later (given in detail in Izvestia of February 2 and 3, 1955), in which Khrushchev refers specifically to an increase in internal meat consumption of 2'8 times in 1954 as compared with 1940. This was my authority for my statement in the book, and it hardly seemed necessary to quote the source, more especially as the book is an account of a holiday in Russia for the general reader, not a statistical treatise.
For this reason Mr. Arden's adverse refer- ence to an aside in one part of my book (a matter of a dozen words or so out of 75,000) to the effect that the word 'Tsar' is derived from 'Caesar' seems uncalled for. Furthermore, it may interest Mr. Arden to know that out of fourteen readers of the Spectator I sounded on this point, only two were already aware of the connection between these two wordS.
As regards prostitution, I deny that 1 any- where stated in my book that I accepted its non-existence in the USSR. I reported a Rus- sian guide as having made this claim (on page 56) and was very careful to add the words 'I was told' and 'she said,' and this para- graph, and also the ones preceding and fol- lowing it, reveal my own sceptical attitude to her views on this and related topics. And in a paragraph on page 168 dealing with loafers, prostitutes, drunks and beggars in the areas wt visited I wrote 'One doesn't see . . . hideous, soliciting painted prostitutes in doorways at night. . . There is no doubt that general con' ditions in some other parts of the USSR lag behind those in the main cities. . .Hardly a categorical acceptance of the non-existence of prostitution in the USSR, surely?
And why should Mr. Arden find it surprir ing that in a book describing a tour taking place in 1954 what he terms 'the official line in 1954' as to the outcome of another war (vi/;: 'the end of civilisation') should be quoted 10 some of the conversations reported? In any case, if he had taken the trouble to read the book more carefully he would have found (00 page 37) another Russian I interviewed stating . . a third war would hasten, not cheat world-wide Communism.' And in the two chapters on Tanya, and elsewhere, views verY different from party line are reported as elt. pressed by contemporary Russians.
As regards literary style, may I poir that this is a matter of opinion, not fad that precisely the opposite of Mr. Arden't on this aspect of the book has been expl by Sir Norman Angell, in his foreword and in many other quarters, Mr. Arden would do well to rub up his background facts properly, and to be dogmatic on matters of opinion, in future, if it is his aim to produce objective and balanced reviews. A personal visit To Russia can also be recommended.—Yours faithfully, t ant and view essed to
it ALLAN .AoNn London, sY
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ALLAN .AoNn London, sY
9 Downshire Hampstead L
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