Marxism was not the only Western idea to influence the course of Russian history. In the early decades of this century; psychoanalysis was one of the most important components of Russian intellectual life. Freud himself; writing in 1912; said that “in Russia; there seems to be a veritable epidemic of psychoanalysis.†But until Alexander Etkind's Eros of the Impossible; the hidden history of Russian involvement in psychoanalysis has gone largely unnoticed and untold.The early twentieth century was a time when the craving of Russian intellectuals for world culture found a natural outlet in extended sojourns in the West; linking some of the most creative Russian personalities of the day with the best universities; salons; and clinics of Germany; Austria; France; and Switzerland. These ambassadors of the Russian intelligentsia were also Freud's patients; students; and collaborators. They exerted a powerful influence on the formative phase of psychoanalysis throughout Europe; and they carried their ideas back to a receptive Russian culture teeming with new ideas and full of hopes of self-transformation.Fascinated by the potential of psychoanalysis to remake the human personality in the socialist mold; Trotsky and a handful of other Russian leaders sponsored an early form of Soviet psychiatry. But; as the Revolution began to ossify into Stalinism; the early promise of a uniquely Russian approach to psychiatry was cut short. An early attempt to merge politics and medicine forms the final chapter of Etkind's tale; a story made possible to tell by the undoing of the Soviet system itself.The effervescent Russian contribution to modern psychiatry has gone unrecognized too long; but Eros of the Impossible restores this fascinating story to its rightful place in history.
#1440404 in Books Hunt Ira A 2013-06-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x 1.06 x 5.98l; 1.54 #File Name: 0813142083416 pagesLosing Vietnam
Review
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A Scholarly MasterpieceBy Richard S. BotkinIf there is a more thoroughly documented and researched work which so compellingly and cogently explains the Vietnam War's final outcome; I am unaware of it. Major General Ira Hunt was front and center in theater to witness and experience the story he meticulously; and with exhaustive quantitative analysis; presents.With first person access to nearly every key political and military leader; on both the US and South Vietnamese sides; and from the highest reaches down to the regimental level; the reasons for the war's unfortunate outcome are made plain. General Hunt has an ability to connect the abtsruse and disparate dots that the morass in Vietnam is lazily seen as by most so that the reader can experience the truth often neglected or never discussed. Most Americans have been too indolent to study; or have been willfull in avoiding the truth exposed here; that what undid our unfortunate ally was not corruption; lack of fighting will or skill and all the other things still presented as fact; but a tenacious communist foe who was unemcumbered by the 1973 Paris Treaty; unlimited supplies from the USSR and China; and an American Congress whose parsimonious; perfidious actions doomed a nation."Losing Vietnam" is superior research and its findings are relevant today; not only because of its historical accuracy but also as a reminder for the US about the long-term cost of being an ally in places like Afghanistan.This book is not light reading; but for people focused on the truth and knowing the full story it is among the most important works on the Vietnam War. It should be required reading in every war college; and by anyone who claims a serious interest in the history of that war.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. An invaluable book; but a tough slog because of heavy use of statistics and military lingoBy pschmehlThis book is an invaluable addition to the record of the Vietnam War. MG Hunt has compiled statistical proof that Vietnam and Cambodia were lost to communism because the US Congress abandoned them. The numbers are literally inarguable. Congress cut funding in both South Vietnam and Cambodia to the point that it was impossible for them to defend themselves. Yet; in both cases; again from statistical evidence; the armies acquitted themselves well. It's a canard of both wars that the armies of the non-communists were incompetent and cowardly. MG Hunt proves statistically that both armies; while they clearly had problems; especially with leadership and decision making as well as corruption; fought valiantly and well and inflicted heavy casualties on the communist forces. We will never know if either or both countries could have survived the communist onslaught because Congress; which had agreed to the treaty that promised both countries support; cruelly and dishonestly abandoned millions of people and doomed them to slaughter at the hands of the communists.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Mary GetterExcellent and intelligent book.
