HC Deb 19 January 1943 vol 386 cc9-10
9. Mr. David Adams

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Soviet Government or its representatives in this country and the Board of Education were consulted as to the list of books respecting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics recommended by the Army Bureau of Current Affairs for political discussion in Army groups; and if he will give a list of the titles and authors of the selected books?

Sir J. Grigg

The lists to which my hon. Friend refers were included as bibliographies in Army Bureau of Current Affairs publications, but were not themselves recommended for discussion. Similar lists for many other countries have been issued, and it has not been considered necessary to consult either the Board of Education or the Governments or their representatives here. I will circulate the lists asked for in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Adams

Does not the right hon. Gentleman think it would have been desirable to consult these fountain heads in both cases?

Sir J. Grigg

No, I do not think it is necessary. In supplying a list of books which the officers conducting the Bureau may consult if they wish without any recommendation, I do not think it is necessary to consult any outsiders.

Mr. Gallacher

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he permits the foulest slanders against our great Ally to be circulated?

Sir J. Grigg

If the hon. Member will read the list, which I will circulate, he will see that only one of the books mentioned is hostile to the Soviet Union, and that is specifically stated to be a hostile book.

Major-General Sir Alfred Knox

Is it not right to hear both sides of the question?

Following are the lists:

1. Russia. Sir Bernard Pares.

Stalin and Hitler. L. Fischer.

Soviet Russia: an Introduction. K. Gibberd.

Interesting pamphlets are:—

The U.S.S.R. in Home and Foreign Affairs. A speech by Stalin, March, 1939. Anglo-Russian Parliamentary Committee. Is Communism a New Civilisation? Left Review.

Soviet Communism: Dictatorship or Democracy? Left Review.

(Both by Sidney and Beatrice Webb; chapters adapted from their large book Soviet Communism.)

2. Russia, by Sir Bernard Pares.

Broken Earth, by Maurice Hindus. (A picture of the Russian peasantry since the Revolution.)

Memories of a British Agent, by Bruce Lockhart. (This is an exciting account of the Russian Revolution by a British diplomatic agent who lived through it.)

False Utopia, by W. H. Chamberlin. (A hostile account.)

The following "Oxford Pamphlets on World Affairs":

No. 14. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, by J. W. Wheeler Bennett.

No. 27. The Baltic, by J. Hampden Jackson.

No. 34. Russian Foreign Policy, by Barbara Ward.

The following numbers of the British Survey are relevant:

Vol. III. No. 3. Some Characteristics of Communism.

No. 4. The Russian Revolution.

3. N. Mikhaylov. Soviet Geography.

World production of Raw Materials.

Bulletin of International News.

12th July, 1941. "Russian Resources and their Location."

9th August, 1941. "The Defence Position in the Russian Far East."

18th October, 1941. "Russian Communications in the Arctic Region."