THE title of the book might well have been "Russia For The Beginner", but "Pan Sovietism" is much more attractive to the eye, and that quality is of prime importance to both author and publisher caught in the deluge of books on the Soviets. The book is a reproduction of the author's series of lectures on Russia given before the Lowell Institute this spring. It is only with this in mind that one can understand why a book of such an elementary nature has been published by Dr. Hopper, who is undoubtedly a foremost authority on present day Russia.

The book represents an attempt to view Soviet Russia from the standpoint of the newer school of internationalists who believe that a nation's rulers, and consequently her actions, are a product of fundamental forces which transcend the rise and fall of governments. In this the volume succeeds admirably.

The author gives a rapid but excellent picture of the Russian people under the Tsarist regime. This is done with a skill which would make the book worth reading if nothing further were said. Next, the Bolsheviks are followed through their various vicissitudes with outlines of how these troubles were handled. Fortunately, the writer never allows himself to become enmeshed in the labyrinth of Soviet political structure but only considers the various commissions which wield the real power. For this reason his exposition is unusually lucid even if rudimentary.

Again with the eyes of an internationalist the author seeks the combatants and the battlefield for the coming struggle between collectivism and individualism. Russia and the United States are picked to wage an economic battle in Asia, the world's greatest potential market. Here the book becomes interesting but unreliable because no one can predict on so vast a scale and expect to be believed. However, the weighing of the respective strengths and weaknesses of socialism and capitalism is particularly good and saves this last part of the work from becoming a distinct detriment.

Although Dr. Hopper admittedly does not favor the Soviet system he presents as nearly an unbiased account as can be obtained of such a controversial matter. After finishing the book, the reader's feeling is likely to be that the author's grasp of the situation in Russia is so good that he should write a more advanced and scholarly book.