Abstract

Glimpses of Russia

This article focuses on two books written by Ernest Poole, "The Dark People," and "The Village." In "The Dark People," Poole assumes that ninety per cent, of the Russian people are peasants, and that the industrial population amounts to only ten per cent. Starting upon such an assumption, he suggests that little heed need be paid to the cities, and that we have to look to the "dark people" in the villages for a solution of the Soviet Union's problems. "The Village" is a very interesting record of the writer's impressions of country life in the Soviet Union. Poole visited the peasants in their huts, attended a theatrical performance at the village school, sat with raftsmen around their bonfire on the river bank at night and talked with small landowners and village priests.