Both well-known and previously unpublished photographs join to present a new image of the 1930s, exposing gaps in our understanding of the important era of the New Deal in the U.S. and the Communist Five-Year Plans in the U.S.S.R.Editor Leah Bendavid-Val spent more than five years collecting material for this book in the United States and Russia. Her research uncovered not only works by great photographers but splendidly impressive images by unknown photographer.
The photographs are as different as the two nations themselves during the period. Yet a close comparison also reveals a number of striking similarities. For example, photographs were used on a large scale for various kinds of propaganda in both countries -- in some cases with the photographer's consent, in others without it. The accompanying texts provide, where possible, information about the people shown in the photographs and the photographers.
