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[EARLY SOVIET WORK ON USA] Torzhestvuyushchaya plutokratiia [i.e. Triumphant Plutocracy]

Pettigru, R.F.

Item #2568

Moscow: Moskovskii rabochii, 1922. 392 pp. 24x16 cm. In original printed wrappers. Spine slightly chipped, marks on front cover, stamp of private library on t.p., otherwise very good and clean.
First and only Russian edition of Richard Pettigrew’s ‘Triumphant Plutocracy: The Story of American Public Life from 1870 to 1920’ (1921).

The translation was undertaken by David Ikhok (1882-1967), a member of the Jewish Labour Bund in the pre-revolutionary period who joined the Communist party in 1920. He was supported
by Lenin’s sister who set him up with a job in a newspaper ‘Pravda’. Ikhok was appointed to high positions in various Soviet newspapers and contributed to them until 1950. In that year, he
was arrested and sentenced to Gulag camps where spent about 4 years.
The adapted text was complemented by commentaries about the USA in general, its political system, the key moments of history, a list of presidents, explanations of some names of large businessmen, etc., as well as the foreword by B. Gorev. He wasn’t enthusiastic about this book. As he wrote, “It doesn’t shine with literary merits. Reading it, I was often tired of the complete absence of a system and repetitions, however, they were interrupted by insightful thoughts and accurate characteristics... We will see further how helplessly he [author] gets confused about basic theoretical problems of capitalism”.

Worldcat locates no copies.

Price: $450.00