Russian Historian Praises Center for Soviet Studies

A leading Soviet Union historian who spent two days here last fall has written an article in a Russian historical journal praising Harvard's work in Soviet studies.

Alexander A. Guber, professor of History at Moscow University, and editor of the journal "New and Newest History," said in the latest issue of his periodical that "acquaintance with the first American university" he visited showed him to "what an outstanding scale" the study of Soviet history, economics, and culture was carried on in the U.S.A.

Visited Cambridge in October

Professor Guber was in the United States last October to attend a meeting of the Bureau of the International Committee of Historians, and was invited by William L. Langer '15, director of the Russian Research Center, to give a talk on the study of history in the Soviet Union. He spent two days in Cambridge at the time and was shown around the University by members of the Center.

In addition, together with other visiting historians, Guber toured various Eastern universities and colleges, and was introduced to the National Archives in Washington.

"As a basis for the study of the history and literature of the U.S.S.R.," he said, "are the special libraries of the universities. In particular the enormous Russian department of Harvard University Library numbers hundreds of thousands of volumes." He seemed impressed by the fact that Widener contained "full sets of all Russian pre-revolutionary journals, complete collections of works of Russian historians, complete works of Russian writers" as well as "literature and periodicals after the revolutionary period." He also noted that American libraries also received emigre periodicals, usually anti-soviet.

About Professor Langer, Guber said "the Russian Center at Harvard is headed by the present president of the American Historical Association, professor W. Langer, famous for his works on international relations, his publications of the documents on foreign policies of the U.S.A.--in particular on the eve of the Second World War."

Pipes Criticized

About Richard E. Pipes, a research fellow at the Center, Guber was more controversial. Speaking of Pipes' book, Formation of the Soviet Union; Communism and Nationalism, Guber said, it is "founded on a large group of sources and literature; however, the interpretation by Professor Pipes of the most important stages of U.S.S.R. history was exposed by Soviet historians to decisive and fair criticism in the press, and even in meetings with the author in Moscow."