Description
Object description
American civilian journalist in South Vietnam, Japan, Mongolian People's Republic, Taiwan and Soviet Union, 1960-1973; journalist in Soviet Union and Federation of Russia, 1974-1999 including research for his book, 'Russia's Heroes 1941-45'
Content description
REEL 1 Background in New England, United States of America, 1942-1960: family; education. Recollections of period as free journalist in South Vietnam, 1960-1963: teaching in Japan and decision to travel to South Vietnam, 1960; impressions of Saigon on arrival, 1960; degree of American involvement in South Vietnam, 1960-63; reporting on conflict; attitude of South Vietnamese towards Ho Chi Minh; murder of South Vietnamese President Diem; American and Japanese support for South Vietnam; work as freelance journalist; use of his work by Senator William Fulbright; visits to Demilitarized Zone and attitude towards American military involvement; preparations for war in People's Republic of China; question of censorship; Buddhist monks' self-immolation in protest against government of President Diem.
REEL 2 Continues: American attitude towards photographs of Buddhist monks' self-immolation; moral dilemmas for photographers; dangers for photographers/journalists in South Vietnam; visits to Demilitarized Zone and Central Highlands; leaving South Vietnam to return to Japan, 1963; attitude of Japanese public towards Vietnam War; attitude towards Vietnam war; role of American media during Vietnam war. Recollections of period as free journalist in Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan and Soviet Union, 1963-1973: anti-Vietnam war demonstrations at University of Tokyo; story of how Japanese prime minister was reported as being upset by student demonstrations when he was suffering from effects of tear gas; visit to Mongolian People's Republic, 1968-1969; evidence of Soviet influence and conditions in Mongolian People's Republic.
REEL 3 Continues: Soviet Union's support in Mongolian People's Republic; working for United Press as China Bureau Manager in Taiwan; meeting Chiang Kai Shek and Madame Chiang Kai Shek; situation for ordinary Taiwanese people; impact of President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger's visit to People's Republic of China, in Taiwan, 1972; impressions of Chiang Kai Shek and Madame Chiang Kai Shek; press censorship in Taiwan; experience of psychological warfare and difficulties for journalists in establishing whether reports genuine.
REEL 4 Continues: visit to Soviet Union, 1965; meeting President Richard Nixon on tour of Soviet Union, 5/1972. Recollections of period as journalist in Soviet Union and Federation of Russia, 1974-1999: return to Soviet Union, 1974; reporting for North America Newspaper Alliance; situation in Soviet Union, 1974-1975; living conditions whilst working in Soviet Union; meeting and reporting on Soviet dissidents; impressions of Andrei Sakharov and his wife; contrast between Andrei Sakharov and Mikhail Sholokhov as Nobel Prize winners; contacts with Jewish 'Refusniks' including Anatoly Scharansky and Vladimir Slepak; situation for Jewish 'Refusniks' in Soviet Union and their wish to emigrate to Israel.
REEL 5 Continues: story of demonstration in which Israeli flag was hoisted publicly; portrayal of such incidents by western press; move to writing about economic affairs for Wall Street commercial journal; difficulties in obtaining information on Cold War; Soviet attitude towards Western press; growing interest in Soviet military affairs; start of his conducting of interviews with Soviet senior military officers during 1980s; lack of anti-Semitism until beginning of Refusniks' campaign to emigrate to Israel; move of many Refusniks from Israel to United States of America; nature of patriotism of Soviet people.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of research and interview programme carried out with senior officers from Soviet Army for book 'Russia's Heroes 1941-45' in Soviet Union and Russian Federation, 1975-1999: assistance from Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Veterans Committees and Institute of Military History in locating Soviet Second World War generals; attitude of generals towards being interviewed; difficulties of interviewing; story of discovery of how explosives were tied to dogs and used against German tanks during Second World War; belief among generals that Soviet Union was fully prepared for war, 4/1941; attitude of generals towards purges in the Soviet military, 1937-1938; mixed social backgrounds of generals; Lieutenant-General Semyon Krivoshein's experience of Spanish Civil War.
REEL 7 Continues: reaction of generals when questioned about Joseph Stalin's role as Commander in Chief; story of how Field Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky stood up to Stalin over military strategy; belief that generals he interviewed were not 'yes men'; interviewees pride in Soviet victory over Germany; attitude of generals towards Soviet casualties; story of female bomber pilot, Colonel Nadezhda Popova; impressions of Nadezhda Popova; role of women in Soviet armed forces during Second World War; story of female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko and her visits to United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada, 1942; how Soviet women obtained right to fight in front line; story of pilot Colonel Alexsey Maresyev who lost both his legs; emphasis on modesty in Soviet and Russian society.
REEL 8 Continues: impressions of Alexsey Maresyev; method of questioning interviewees; role of Jewish generals in Soviet Army; interviewing Lieutenant-General Semyon Krivoshein and Colonel General David Dragunsky; question of anti-Semitism; interviewing Joseph Stalin's grandson, Colonel Yevgeny Dzhugashvili; question of whether Joseph Stalin disowned his son Yakov Dzhugashvili; Joseph Stalin's reaction to film about Yakov Dzhugashvili; Colonel Yevgeny Dzhugashvili's attitude towards his grandfather Joseph Stalin; attitude of interviewees towards Joseph Stalin.
REEL 9 Continues: contrast in interviewing those that served during Second World War and dissidents; previous military service of some of the generals he interviewed in the Tsarist armies; questioning generals about military purges in Soviet Union, 1937-1938; question of Joseph Stalin's involvement in Sergei Kirov and Maxim Gorky assassinations; attitude of interviewees towards Nazi/Soviet Pact, 1939; question of Soviet preparedness for war, 1941; attitude of generals towards Dunkirk Evacuation; question of whether Soviet role in Second World War is underplayed in the West.
REEL 10 Continues: attitude of Oleg Vishevsky towards Battles of Stalingrad and El Alamein. Recollections of period as journalist in Soviet Union, 1974-1991: changes to life in Soviet Union during the Cold War era; long-term impact of Second World War on Soviet Union; role of Mikhail Gorbachev in ending Cold War; attitude of Soviet people towards Mikhail Gorbachev; reaction to end of Cold War; travelling in Soviet Union; system of Glasnost; background to break up of Soviet Union; witnessing attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, 1991.
REEL 11 Continues: changes under Boris Yeltsin; situation in Russian Federation today, 2001; question of most dangerous periods of Cold War; question of who won the Cold War; awareness of Cuban Missile Crisis, 10/1962; Bertand Russell's writings about Cuban Missile Crisis, 10/1962; visiting People's Republic of China, 1977.
