Introduction

This chapter introduces the entire book, showing the progression from early contacts between Soviet Russia and American progressives, and moving on to Quaker contacts, FOR and YMCA contacts, study trips, the multiple contacts of the 1930s: fellow travelers, social workers, entrepreneurs, and engineers; the 1940s and 1950s, beginning with the contacts of the Grand Alliance and including jazz and ballet exchange, and ending with the Cultural Agreement of 1957–1958. The final chapters look ahead to the breakthroughs of the 1980s and beyond.