Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, 1928-1978 [Hardcover]

Paul Hollander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1981 | ISBN-10: 0195029372 | ISBN-13: 978-0195029376 | Edition: First Edition

Why have noted Western intellectualsófrom George Bernard Shaw to Jean-Paul Sartre to Susan Sontagóembraced the vision of various "revolutionary" societies, often in their most repressive historical phase, while downgrading (and yet enjoying) the benefits of Western liberal pluralistic political cultures? How have the delusions and dreams of many Western observers of the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and other socialist states contributed to a moral and political double standard? Paul Hollander explores these crucial questions in a remarkable study of travel reports on socialist countries written by Western visitors. Observing that political pilgrims represent a tradition of seeking alternatives to flawed social arrangements at home, Hollander also suggests that underlying these visits is a quest for meaning, purpose, and sense of community that intellectuals feel increasingly deprived of in secular and individualistic societies in the West. Political Pilgrims, listed among "The Notable Books of the Year" in the New York Times Book Review, is a provocative study of the relationship between political commitment, perception, and moral sensibility. Originally published by Oxford University Press in 1981.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A horribly funny book...to be kept close at hand and reread whenever we are told of a land where power is wielded in a new way, where the human soul is re-engineered and human nature uplifted.>>>> (Richard Grenier The Washington Post )

Stunning reading...a long overdue cautionary tale warning Western intellectuals against a systematic denigration of their own societies to the advantage of others, secretive and remote, about which they know next to nothing, but which they nonethelessvenerate as shining triumphs of the human spirit....Professor Hollander has not merely written an excellent book. He has rendered a service to the Republic.>>> (Richard Grenier )

Stunning reading...a long overdue cautionary tale warning Western intellectuals against a systematic denigration of their own societies to the advantage of others, secretive and remote, about which they know next to nothing, but which they nonetheless venerate as shining triumphs of the human spirit....Professor Hollander has not merely written an excellent book. He has rendered a service to the Republic. (Richard Grenier )

A horribly funny book...to be kept close at hand and reread whenever we are told of a land where power is wielded in a new way, where the human soul is re-engineered and human nature uplifted. (Richard Grenier The Washington Post ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Paul Hollander is professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and center associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. His books include Political Pilgrims, The Many Faces of Socialism, and Soviet and American Society: A Comparison.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 540 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (October 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195029372
• ISBN-13: 978-0195029376
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Peace, peace, when there is no peace., June 23, 2001

By 

David Marshall - See all my reviews

This review is from: Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society (Paperback)

Political Pilgrims is the amazing story of how Western intellectuals embraced Marxist tyrants at the very moment their colleagues were rotting in prison cells, and the common people everyone claimed to be concerned for, were starving. The book relates how cultural and religious leaders from the West, including familiar names, visited the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and other communist countries, and told the most appalling lies to flatter their hosts and express their contempt for Western society. It is quite an education, as another reviewer put it. Marx's revolutionary myth dominated history for the better part of the 20th Century, and if we are serious about not repeating the errors of that period, this book should be a part of our education. The short story Buddha's Smile in Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece, The First Circle, brilliantly tells the same story, from the point of view of Soviet prisoners. Lewis Feuer's Marx and the Intellectuals compares Marx and Engels themselves with the kind of people Hollander is describing. I also recommend the writings of the Rumanian philosopher, pastor, and former prisoner, Richard Wurmbrand.

Hollander retells George Keenan's story of a Norwegian radical who, when asked what country he most admired, said, "Albania." Keenan noted that the student obviously knew nothing of Albania, but chose that country "simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one's own society."

The same reactionary psychology has, it seems to me, been transferred in our day to an uncritical and naive attraction towards what is (simplistically) called "eastern religion." One could write an even longer book about how Westerners project their fantasies on monist ideologies: people like Joseph Campbell and Karen Armstrong "explaining" human sacrifice, the Theosophical Society standing up for caste, Arthur C. Clarke (Did he know much more of Asian history than the Albanian radical knew of Albania?) describing Buddhism as "the only faith that never became stained with blood." Even Hollander allowed that, "While the suspension of disbelief has its place in human life, it belongs more to the religious (or asthetic) than the political realm." But his book should be read, in my opinion, as a warning against all forms of ideological naivite. A love of truth, and a determination to tell it no matter how out of fashion it may seem, is essential to integrity in all walks of life. Political Pilgrims vividly illustrates, in the political realm, the evil that can be done when honesty plays second fiddle to fashion.....

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you'll need to know about leftist hypocrites, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society (Paperback)

I read this book on a suggestion from an Economics professor at George Masoh University. I was doing some research about some American views of the Soviet Union while Stalin was murdering his people and my professor enlightened me towards this incredible read. It was indeed a hard book to come across, mine was the only school in the entire Metropolitan DC area to hold this. So, I considered myself lucky. And after reading with passion every single word, I now consider myself educated. For those who are fans of George Bernard Shaw, read this at your own peril. While Mr. Shaw was bordering a train heading into the Soviet Union, he threw all his food on the roadside in Poland, in belief that food in the USSR was readily available. Indeed, it was for him and the other Americans the Russians wanted to use to spread their Communist propaganda, but little did these utopian-minded citizens know, millions upon millions were being murdered right under their noses in this great utopia. Of course murder didn't stop these peaceful leftists from looking at the grim realities of life under socialism. They still found ways in which to exalt the virtues of government planned society. After the guilt overcame them in regards to the murders of Stalin, they took to Cuba. Unfortunately for them, same game plan under Castro, same result, millions of innocents dead. Realizing Cuba was not the great utopia, these American leftists took to China and Mao. AHHHH? If only these people would live the "true" socialist way. If only socialism was allowed to flourish in its true nature, with peace and love for everyone. A few peiple get murdered along the way? Its too bad but the good of the nation is more important. Hollander outlines this perfectly. Three cheers for him and for the people who have the guts to read this wonderful book.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Left-Wing Hypocrisy Exposed Brilliantly and Humorously!, July 21, 2000

By 

Kathleen (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society (Paperback)

In this fascinating book, Paul Hollander exposes the self deception of 19th and 20th century intellectuals. In their search for the perfect society, they wander from Revolutionary Russia to modern-day Cuba.

In spite of massive evidence of human rights abuse, including genocide, false imprisonments, and confiscation of private property, the political pilgrims never waver in their loyalty to failed, left-wing ideals. They journey onward after each "socialist" failure, with the fervor of religious converts.

This book is meticulously documented and easy to read. Highly recommended.