cover image Not for America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and the Fall of Communism

Not for America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and the Fall of Communism

George J. Mitchell. Kodansha America, $25 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-56836-083-6

In broad strokes, Mitchell, former majority leader of the U.S. Senate, narrates a colorful, selective history of our century, with emphasis on the Russian Revolution, the rise of Hitler, Lenin and Stalin, the New Deal, WWII, the Cold War, McCarthyist witch-hunt hysteria and the crack-up of the Soviet empire with the ecological devastation left in its wake. A number of themes emerge here. One is that Marxism's commitment to violent revolution and intolerant ideology led inevitably to the terror and oppression that has marked communist societies. A corollary is that Soviet communism was doomed to fail, regardless of Reagan's military buildup. Staunchly defending Roosevelt's liberal programs, Mitchell declares that Newt Gingrich and other Republicans will not succeed in dismantling the New Deal's legacy. He offers sage advice on how the U.S. should deal with the global population explosion, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, resurgent nationalisms and, domestically, with crime and poverty. Although Mitchell scarcely mentions his career as lawyer, federal district judge or senator from Maine, he injects a personal note, telling how his mother, a Lebanese immigrant weaver, and his janitor father, orphaned son of Irish immigrants, survived the Depression. His vigorous, if not especially original, chronicle offers a valuable perspective on U.S. prospects. (May)