To See, Or Not to See ... (Not Seeing Red: American Librarianship and the Soviet Union, 1917-1960) (Book Review‪)‬

Not Seeing Red: American Librarianship and the Soviet Union, 1917-1960, by Stephen Karetzky, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2002. xi + 504 pp. "A GOOD BOOK is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life," John Milton reminded readers of his Areopagitica (1644). "We should be wary therefore ... how we destroy that seasoned life of man, preserved and stored up in books: since we see a kind of homicide may be thus committed, sometimes a martyrdom; and if it extend to the whole impression a kind of massacre." The English poet's arresting reflections on blood and ink flood the mind of a reader gazing at the red and black cover of the book entitled Not Seeing Red: American Librarianship and the Soviet Union, 1917-1960, by Dr. Stephen Karetzky. Especially stunning is the picture on it of an enigmatic Vladimir Ulianov (1870-1924), the man whom the workers called Lenin. Scrutinizing the inscrutable dark eyes of the Dictator of the Proletariat, one wonders whether he is thinking about the Soviet Union's swords or pens as he also sits at a desk in a library studying a book.