^#smrgSAHAF Mission to Moscow -

Joseph Davies was US Ambassador to the USSR in 1936. He was sent to the USSR by President Roosevelt to assess the situation in Moscow. While travelling to Russia he also stopped in various capitals to visit with other leaders in London, Paris, Germany, etc. This is a rather sad book. Mr. Davies was clearly hoodwinked by Stalin. The book reads as a paean to the greater glories of Soviet syle communism. However, I recommend that any historian or student of the 1930s/1940s should read this book- this is why I give it a 3 star rating. The book is written in diary form. It contains very interesting passages of conversations that Davies had with Stalin, Molotov, Litvinov, Goring, etc. His coverage of the military treason trials of 1936 are fascinating. This book was made into a pro-Soviet propoganda movie by Hollywood in the 1940s starring Walter Huston in the lead role. Roosevelt had to prepare and justify an alliance with the USSR- afterall US policy since the Revolution was to disparage all things Russian. The book and movie helped prepare the American people for that alliance- albeit short lived.