BEYOND LEFT & RIGHT: Radical Thought for Our Times
William Morrow & Co., 1968. First Edition. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. SIGNED and inscribed by the editor, Richard Kostelanetz, to contributor Hans Morgenthau: 'd. Sept., 1968 / For Hans Morgenthau, / Who brought a European intelligence, perhaps conservative, to radical American problems, / with much appreciation, and best wishes, / [signed] Richard Kostalenetz.' xli, 436pp. Sewn binding in black spine cloth over green paper-over-boards with white, orange, and green spine lettering. Very clean, fresh copy with just a bit of wear to spine head; DJ tips with some trivial rubbing and 1mm tear to rear head at the flap crease. Kostelanetz is a poet, artist, and critic with a prolific publishing history, beginning with numerous edited collections early in his career--this one being his fourth, compiled at the age of 28. He contributes a lengthy introduction with an optimistic and fairly utopian outlook on the promise of new technology and informed planning for the betterment of society. The choice of Morgenthau is a somewhat surprising one: as the inscription hints, the question of his essential conservatism remains debated today. While his insistence on the tragic character of human nature led him to distrust many progressive projects, he was also consistently critical of reactionary which sought only 'stability' as a goal. Morgenthau enjoyed some temporary status among radicals in the 60's due to his early criticism of US Vietnam Policy, with which his essay for the present volume deals. Political scholar Jennifer See writes, '“Morgenthau in fact played an important role in opening public space for opposition to the Vietnam War. He was one of the first to perceive the dangers the United States faced; to expose the fallacies of applying Cold War assumptions to Southeast Asia’s revolutionary, anticolonial realities; and, most importantly, to express his views publicly. In light of recent scholarship on the war, some may find his predictions prophetic.” (“Prophet Without Honor: Hans Morgenthau and the War in Vietnam, 1955–1965”). NEAR FINE / NEAR FINE. Item #509830
Price: $750.00