Review of
Russia As I Saw It,
by Vern L. Schield
Four out of five stars
The author grew up in Iowa and is a classic case of
the self-made man. He was a talented mechanic and founded Bantam, a company
that made heavy construction equipment and was located in Waverly, Iowa. When I
was young the term “Bantam” was used to refer to all machines that had a
certain form.
In 1956, after
years of effort, Schield was allowed to take a tour of the Soviet Union. At the
time, this was a very difficult thing for an American to do. This book is an
account of his experiences in what was truly a very foreign land at the time.
Consistent with
the accounts of other travelers of that time period, Schield found the Soviet
people extremely curious about Americans. For many, he was the first one that
they had encountered. He took many pens with him, and they were a prized
possession of the recipients. Even though they could not read the text, the promotional
material that he brought with him was pored over by the people he met.
This is one
more demonstration that when people meet, even those under adversarial
governments, human curiosity wins out over animosity. An expert on heavy construction
equipment, Schield also provides some expert commentary on what he saw in
action during his trip.
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