Review by Robert H. Johnston.

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Chase, William J. Enemies Within the Gates?: The Comintern and the Stalinist Repression, 1934-1939. Yale Univ. (Annals of Communism). Jan. 2002. c.505p. permanent paper. tr. by Vadim A. Staklo. index. ISBN 0-300-08242-8. $35. HIST

The extended title says it all. Part of Yale's "Annals of Communism" series, this volume reproduces translations of original documents from the Communist International, formerly maintained in the Central Party Archive in Moscow, none of which was previously published. A detailed commentary by the author and his extensive notes accompany the documents. It was not unknown that the Comintern, like all Soviet institutions, suffered at Stalin's hands. But the details provided by this volume, produced by Chase (history, Univ. of Pittsburgh) in cooperation with Russian scholars, amplify the grim tale of "idealism twisted into carnage, of comradeship betrayed," as Stalin's NKVD furiously hunted for spies, wreckers, and other largely imaginary enemies. No real foe could have done greater damage. This compilation should be acquired by every academic library and specialized collections on totalitarianism or the former USSR.--Robert H. Johnston, McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ont.