Journey for Our Time: The Russian Journals of the Marquis de Custine: An Intriguing Look at the Continuities in Russian Politics and Society

• Paperback - 25 March, 1988 - Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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• By: Phyllis Penn Kohler
• ISBN: 0895267861

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Reviews by readers

Russian equivalent to DeTocqueville's Democracy in America

Having read this book many times I can state that it is the source for many theories on Russian culture today. During the time it was written it was popular for the French aristocracy to travel throughout the world and write journals as to what they observed. This is obviously how DeTocqueville wrote Democracy in America (any first year poli sci student will know his work). Taking that as a baseline and then reading Journey for our Time you will be able to get a good look at the Russian mindset and better understand the troubles that are still plaqueing their peoples and nation.

Accurate and Disturbing

General Bedell Smith is one of the towering giants of World War II. Not only was he an effective combat commander, but he was the staff officer that made Marshall and Eisenhower as effective as they were in managing the United States first effort at taking the lead in a multi-national, world wide war against fascism. So when he recommends, "Journey for Our Time: The Russian Journals of the Marquis de Custine" as the definitive book on Russian culture, it carries some weight.

This book is very disturbing in at least two ways. First, the actual traits of Russian society which seem to be less than pleasing and have remained constant across imperial Russia, the USSR, and the modern Russian state. Second, the actual style of the book which cites the misfortunes of the "elite" in Russian society while actually blaming the average Russian as being the one making the bargain of freedom for conquest. It just goes to show one that the French Revolution can take the aristocrats out of France, but apparently nothing will take a love of the aristocracy out of the Frenchmen.

Ultimately, that is the point of this book. There are some cultures tend to have fundamental traits that change little over time regardless of the technological or political wrappings that are draped across them.

As Americans, we tend to believe that we are a collection of beliefs and that as such, nothing that fundamentally affects those beliefs is a permanent piece of our cultural identity. In the end, only an outsider can tell us if this is true.

Does de Custine have a message for us about 21st Century Russia? Sadly, the answer may be yes.

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