The study of U.S. history has flourished in the Soviet Union during the last several years, with much research being published in Soviet journals. Since those journals have very limited circulation in the West and since few U.S. scholars read Russian, the Soviet vantage point on American history, which often differs considerably from the view of U. S. scholars, has been mostly inaccessible. In this volume, the first in a series, scholars from both nations have cooperated to rectify part of that deficiency by examining one of the most significant decades in American history, the 1930s.

Eleven essays by Soviet historians that were originally published in Soviet journals have been translated into English; eight American historians have responded with commentary on those essays; and the Soviets have written brief rejoinders. The volume thus presents a unique opportunity to learn the contours of Soviet writings on the New Deal, to take account of their preoccupations and conclusions, and then to read the appraisals of noted U.S. scholars.