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[SPACE RACE] Kreml’ i kosmos [i.e. The Kremlin and the Cosmos]

Daniloff, N.

Item #2727

Moscow: Progress, 1973. 160 pp. 22x15 cm. In original printed wrappers. Small tears of t.p. and last leaf around staples.

For official use only. Copy #221.

The edition comprises the Russian translation of Nicolas Daniloff’s work ‘The Kremlin and the Cosmos’ (1972).

Back in 1949, a special team was created in the publishing house ‘Foreign Literature’, whose task was to translate into Russian foreign literature containing a critical analysis of Soviet reality, analysis of world politics and economics. The team worked in secrecy and in a short time and published their translations in small printruns (100-500 copies).

Those books were distributed according to a special list approved by the Central Committee of the CPSU(b). All copies were numbered. The book was sent only to party officials, major party organizations and institutes of social sciences. In Soviet libraries, the publication was kept in the Special Storage. In 1951, the group received the status of a special editorial board. It was supervised by the head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) M.A. Suslov. In the 1960s, this series began to be published by the Progress publishing house.

The editorial reads: “Books about space experiments of the USSR, about Soviet scientists and cosmonauts are very popular worldwide. Some foreign publishing houses use the space topic for the ideological struggle against the USSR. This book is one of them. The author was in Moscow as a correspondent for the American news agency United Press International in 1961-1966, and upon his return to the United States, he continued to follow the development of Soviet cosmonautics through literature and periodicals. Hoping to belittle the role of the Soviet Union as the world's leading scientific and technological power, he casts a shadow on the authority of Soviet scientists and space program leaders. Danilov presents to the American reader only secondary and atypical facts from the history of space research in the USSR. This is how he tries to convince readers that the main goal of Soviet space research is to increase military potential. The tone of the entire book and the author's position don’t contribute to the development of mutual understanding between the USSR and the USA, which was initiated by negotiations in May 1972.”

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $2,500.00