The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Volume 26: Cold War Fears and Hopes, 1950-52

Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell #26

by Bertrand Russell

The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Volume 26 covers a period of transition in Russell's political life between his orthodox and sometimes pugnacious defence of the West in the early post-war, and the dissenting advocacy of nuclear disarmament and d�tente that started in earnest in the mid-1950s.While some of the assembled writings echo harsh prior criticism of Soviet expansionism and dictatorship, others register growing qualms about the recklessness of American foreign policy and the baneful effects on civil liberties of anti-communist hysteria inside the United States. Whether continuing to push for western rearmament, or highlighting in a more placatory vein the folly of the Cold War's divisions and rival fanaticisms, Russell's paramount objective was avoiding a war that threatened global catastrophe. Suspended between fear and hope, he expounded his evolving political concerns-and much else besides, including autobiographical reflections and typically common-sense guidance for living well-in a constant flow of newspaper and magazine articles, letters to editors, radio broadcasts and discussions and, of special note, a Nobel Prize acceptance speech.Russell also completed two lecture tours of the United States (the last of many), as well as a landmark such visit to Australia. All three of these journeys, and the textual record they left, are examined in depth using manuscript material and unpublished correspondence from the Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University, which is mined extensively throughout the volume.

1024 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 30, 2020

About the author

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, was a Welsh philosopher, historian, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, pacifist, and prominent rationalist. Although he was usually regarded as English, as he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

Reviews

[A YOGAM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dieser Band dokumentiert Bertrand Russells Reaktionen auf die wachsende Bedrohung durch einen atomaren Holocaust zu Beginn des Kalten Krieges. Er versammelt Essays und Reden, in denen Russell eindringlich zur nuklearen Abrüstung und zur Verständigung zwischen Ost und West aufruft.
Russell kritisiert sowohl den sowjetischen Totalitarismus als auch die westliche Hysterie und plädiert für die Idee einer Weltregierung. Diese Schriften machten ihn zu einer der einflussreichsten moralischen Stimmen der internationalen Friedensbewegung.