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his support of an old schoolmate) and the Dreyfus Affair, from his first cabinet in 1906 to his last, from 1917 to 1920, when the old warrior resigned when denied the presidency of the Republic. But he never forgets the dandy, the journalist, the man of letters, the afficionado of duels and gymnastics, the charmer, the inveterate traveler and the impenitent stormy petrel, active until his death just past the age of 89-which beat his father by two years.

Mere listings of this sort do not do justice to a book whose sweep equals the greatness of its subject-warts and all. Oddly, until now, the only serious study of Clemenceau was that by David Watson (London, 1974) and that, as the author made very clear, was a political biography only. Duroselle has remedied this strange omission, giving Clemenceau the full and satisfying treatment that Waldeck-Roussea, Briand, Jaures, and other great figures of the Republic long enjoyed.

Intentionally or not, both these very different and very intelligent works bring out the importance of personalities and personal relations in the making of History and of major historical events. Great trends and long-term views are all very well; but they are affected and inflected by individuals who leave their mark on them. Without Comte or Augustin Thierry the intellectual discourse of 19th century France would have been very different;

without Clemenceau the history of the Third Republic, perhaps that of the world, would be different too. The tongue d&e is certainly a consideration. But in the longue durbe we shall all be dead.

Eugen Weber University of California, Los Angeles

Women, Equality and Europe, ed. Mary Buckley and Malcolm Anderson (London: Macmillan, 1988), x + 228 pp., J533.00 cloth; sll.95 paper. Soviet Social Scientists Talking. An Official Debate About Women, ed. Mary Buckley (London: Macmillan, 1986) xii + 107 pp., g25.00 cloth; g9.95 paper.

Women, Equality and Europe is a collection of thirteen essays (most originating as conference papers) which address policy-related issues pertaining to sex equality in the European Community (EC). Most of the contributors are political scientists, although other fields, including law, are also represented. The essays are diverse in subject and method. Some are mainly descriptive; others are more theoretically oriented and/or scientific in approach. All are sympathetic to the cause.

As the editors explain in their useful introductory chapter, EC involvement in issues of sexual equality derives from the Treaty of Rome, which includes an article requiring equal remuneration for the same work for men and women. Promoted with an eye not to furthering sex equality but to equalising the conditions of competition between states, this basic Treaty commitment has subsequently been elaborated and extended by legally binding Directives on Equal Pay, Equal Treatment, and Social Security issued in the 1970s.

Several papers discuss the implementation of Community-level policies at the national level. While acknowledging the part played by EC policy in promoting legal rights for women, contributors emphasise factors which limit the impact of Community law in practice. Angela Byre examines the EC’s efforts to establish common legal standards on equal pay and equal treatment across the Community and finds that Community standards are often not enforceable without further detailed judicial interpretation or action by member states. Jennifer Corcoran surveys the obstacles facing individual complainants, calling attention to member states’failure to institute effective enforcement procedures for the EC Directives on Equal Pay and Equal Treatment. Evaluating the

Book Reviews

impact of these Directives in West Germany and the Republic of Ireland, Catherine Hoskyns concludes that while valuable in establishing formal rights for women the narrow scope and limited application of Community policy makes it marginal to most women’s interests. Ina Sjerps finds that the EC Directive on Social Security has had but limited impact on the Dutch social security system. Ursula Barry and Pauline Jackson write of part-time women workers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and conclude that neither national labor legislation nor EC law offers such women adequate protection.

Focusing on different policy areas, contributors vary in their estimation of future gains to be achieved under European law. Margherita Rendel suggests that British women may find more scope for challenging unequal educational provision under European than under domestic law. On the other hand, surveying the abortion policies adopted by EC states, Joyce Outshoorn sees little hope that legal reforms at the European level will harmonise abortion laws in Western Europe in a more liberal direction.

Other contributors examine women’s impact on policy-making. Elizabeth Valiance assesses the influence of women Members of the European Parliament on Community policy on gender equality, finding that the policy concerns of women MEPs are more geared to their committee appointments and partisan loyalties than to feminist commitments. Using Italy as a case in point, Giovanna Zincone elaborates a formal model identifying factors which influence the access of individuals and social groups to ‘decision- making arenas’ and which may help explain the paucity of women among political decision-makers.

Several essays analyse avenues of influence available to feminists. Pippa Norris investigates whether socialist governments have had a significant impact on the economic position of women in Western Europe. Applying covariance structure analysis to cross- national statistics, she concludes that socialist governments have reduced certain dimensions of economic inequality, including pay differences and occupational segregation. Noting the important part played by institutionalised interests at the Community level in keeping gender issues on the political agenda at a time when many member governments would prefer to forget them, Odile Quintin describes the European Commission’s initiatives to promote equal employment opportunities for women. Michelle Conquillat’s survey of the multifarious activities of the short-lived (1981-86) French Ministry of Women’s Rights also points up the benefits to be accrued from having an institutionalised base. On the other hand, analysing the diverse political strategies adopted by feminists (some unwilling to be co-opted into existing political structures), Joni Lovenduski suggests that although there are still gains for women to be realised within the existing political system, ultimately feminist goals require a fundamental transformation of politics.

Although several contributors remind us that the idea of gender equality is problematic, these essays do not offer us much guidance in evaluating the validity or utility of alternative concepts of equality except as associated with particular policies. However, they do enhance our understanding of the manifold difficulties of translating equalitarian ideas into practice.

Soviet Social Scientists Talking. An Official Debate About Women reports interviews conducted in the late 1970s and early 80s with thirteen Soviet social scientists (identified only by academic specialty and sex) who were posed a series of identical questions about women’s position in Soviet society. Prefaced with introductory remarks by theeditor, the interviews touch on a broad swath of issues: continuity and change in female roles since the revolution, contemporary hindrances to equality of the sexes and how the state can promote sex equality, part-time work for women, the domestic division of labour, desirable role models for socialist women and the fall in the birth rate in the European republics-to mention but a few. In hopes that these interviews will counter the myth

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(surely more prevalent just a few years ago than today!) that the Soviet Union is a society without debate, the editor explains that the women question (officially declared solved and thus a non-issue in Stalinist Russia) was re-opened to discussion in the late 6Os, consistent with the new official line that mature socialist societies such as the U.S.S.R. which were in the process of developing the prerequisites of communism faced as yet unsolved problems.

Given the diversity of the questions posed and the brevity of the replies, the interviews convey at most something of the flavor of contemporary discourse. Additional editorial guidance in interpreting the interviews would have been helpful and lent more weight to this collection. However, slight as it is, this volume does convey quite vividly these Soviet citizens’ sense that theirs is a society in flux with the direction of change as yet uncertain.

Odense University Joyce Senders Pedersen

Spheres of Influence, Corneliu Bogdan and Eugen Preda (Boulder, CO: Social Science Monographs, 1988), iv + 179pp., n.p.g.

Spheres of Znfluence is the English edition of the work by two Roumanian students of International affairs and politics. The study was first published in Roumania in 1986. Professor Stephen Fischer-Galati, editor of the ‘Social Science Monographs’ in his ‘editor’s’ note points out that the English edition is a ‘somewhat abbreviated version of the extended version in Roumanian’.

After an introductory chapter, there are six chapters on ‘From the Greek Dualism to the Holy Alliance’, ‘Power and Dividing Up the World’, ‘From the “Little World War I” to the Atomic Bomb’, ‘The Politics of Spheres of Influence and the Contemporary Realities’, ‘New Phases in Spheres of Influence’, and ‘Spheres of Influence and the Future of International Relations’. The end-notes indicate thorough research. There is no index to the volume. The six scholarly essays argue the importance of ‘spheres of influence’ in power politics from ancient times to the present. The nature of international relations emphasises geopolitics, so that we think of ‘spheres of influence’ and speak of American policy in Europe, Africa, etc., and Soviet policy in the Middle East, the Gulf, South Eastern Europe, etc. It places states in a clear hierarchy of ‘power’based on such factors as location [geographic], economic development, military strength, size of population, national security etc. Military strength is given a high priority for while international relations are diverse world stability and the protection of vital resources, such as energy and trade, are seen to rest on the availability and use of military force. International interactions are dominated by governments and influenced by security, ideological and economic priorities. However, in the closing years of our century the landscape of international relations is being radically transformed. During the first half of the twentieth century the continent of Europe was the theater of two major wars, World War I and World War II. But during the four decades since the end of the Second World War, regional confrontations, revolutions and great and at time violent collisions of ideology, communism vs democracy, totalitarianism vs capitalism, have taken place not in Europe, where the ideas had their genesis, but in Asia, and Korea in the 195Os, Indochina in the 1950~40s and Afganistan in the 197Os-80s. However,late in the 1980s some simple truths gained more widespread acceptance: peace is better than war and negotiation is preferable to confrontation. Indeed, 1988 could go down in history as an Annus Mirabilis.

We are seeing the end of the ‘Cold War’. East and West, forced by economic realities, are less confrontational and more cooperative. We are moving from the world of ‘spheres of influence’ to the melting of the glacier of suspicion and mistrust. Eastern Europe is