REVIEW ARTICLE 63 the scope of the theme chosen by him. But there are significant pointers in his work in the detailed descriptions of arguments which show a consciousness on the part of the Party of the dangers of losing sight of the goals of the revolution, and their touch with the masses.' He also shows how every measure was seen as 'temporary* in nature, and acknowledged as being dictated by exigencies of war rather than 'principle*. The verbal strategic commitment to the militia concept, to creating the highest officers from the proletariat and the peasantry when possible, and of giving greater initiative to local Party organisations once the enemy was defeated is also shown by him to have been voiced even as the Party is forced to abandon these intentions in the face of harsh realities. There are no discussions in his work of how the rank and file organisations argued and felt. But there is enough in his work to show how and why the organisational structures, both in the military and other fields, evolved the way they did. It is for those interested in the Communist movement today to learn how that which was intended to be temporary became a permanent feature of the Soviet Party organisational structure, and to retrieve from historical oblivion what was positive in the arguments of those whose 'line' was not carried through. The author has used a wide variety of sources to weave together his arguments into a coherent whole. It is a book well worth reading for the insights that it provides into the emergence of the Soviet political system. It is a pity that its cost makes it out of reach of most Indian libraries.