Although Russia is a "civil law" country, her legal history presents a pattern of development quite different from the continental countries of the "Roman law" tradition. Russia did not share in the Reception of Roman law after the eleventh century, which is the common tradition of western European jurisprudence. The institutions and philosophy of the Reception remained foreign—indeed almost unknown— to the Russians. Yet the Russian jurists have been studying the Roman law since the eighteenth century, and even today it is a required subject for Soviet law students.

The decision to terminate the NEP and to introduce rapid collectivization in the Soviet Union at the end of the 1920's brought the problem of social classes into sharp focus. Although the role of the kulaks had been encouraged under the NEP, it was now decided to move against them and to expropriate them. In pursuance of the instructions of the Fifteenth Party Congress, which opened on December 2, 1927, "the Party launched a determined offensive against the kulaks, putting into effect the slogan: rely firmly on the poor peasantry, strengthen the alliance with the middle peasantry, and wage a resolute struggle against the kulaks."

An acutely significant episode in the history of Soviet Russia, rendered no less important by the perspective of recent events, is the development of the organizational machinery of the Communist Party in the years immediately following the civil war. It was this period which witnessed the true realization of Lenin's prerevolutionary ideal of the monolithic party, despite the paradox that the model of conspiratorial discipline was designed for the accomplishment of the revolution, not the organization of the post-revolutionary society.

With Malenkov's demotion and Bulganin's accession to the Premiership in February, 1955, the post-Stalin era in the land of the Soviets entered what seems to be its second stage. Marked by a greatly risen ascendancy of Khrushchev, it has thus far been a stage full of conspicuous and often bewildering happenings. Heavy industry has resumed its position of absolute dominance and to advocate an emphasis upon light industry, as was fashionable in the days of Malenkov's Premiership, again amounts to "right-wing deviationism." "Judas" Tito has become acceptable. The 1943 Teheran atmosphere has been taken out of cold storage and refurbished as the "Geneva spirit."

"Understanding any foreign system of law is difficult"; "Cases have different value in different systems, but in all systems a student who wants to understand the system must refer to cases."

These two statements borrowed from an interesting article by Prof. J. N. Hazard indicate the point at issue in the following discussion. In the United States Professors H. Berman, V. Gsovski, G. Guins, J. Hazard, and H. Kelsen have devoted special works to the study of Soviet law, not to mention a number of valuable articles written by various competent jurists.

On January 28th, 1956, the 75th anniversary of Fedor Dostoevsky's death, the world of literature honored his memory. The occasion suggested to me the idea of reconstructing the history of the production of The Brothers Karamazov at the Moscow Art Theater, in 1911. For a number of years I was closely connected with this theatrical institution as executive assistant to Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, director and co-founder with Constantine Stanislavsky of the Art Theater, and this memoir is based on my conversations with him in addition to my personal recollections of the play.