Dear Unknown Friend: The Remarkable Correspondence between American and Soviet Women by AlexisPeri. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2024. 304 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978‐0‐674‐98758‐6

This is a history of cultural relations and international friendship in a period generally considered barren of any such activities. It tells the story of Cold War pen pal friendships between women from the United States and the Soviet Union, based on fascinating material that Alexis Peri came across unexpectedly in the archives in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. A pen pal exchange between the Antifascist Committee of Soviet Women and the Women’s Committee of the National Council of American–Soviet Friendship gathered momentum after the victory at Stalingrad had drawn the admiration of American citizens. In spite of the anti-Cosmopolitan campaign of the postwar period, the program was active for approximately ten years, from 1943 through 1953. There were exchanges between the Soviet Union and European countries too, but this study confines itself to the United States–Soviet Union ones as it draws on the archival holdings that relate specifically to those relationships. Peri draws out from the letters the ways that these women explored each other’s different lives and experiences of womanhood: approaches to careers and motherhood, the running of the home and domestic duties, and the raising of children. She shows the gentle way that the women explored differences between their ideologies and beliefs about what was best for them and their children, but also points to ways they possibly influenced each other—in particular, asking whether some American women were persuaded by their pen pals that having work and a career would be preferable to staying at home to look after domestic duties. Once into the 1950s, several elements changed in the scheme: the Soviets were keen to ensure that prominent, even famous women took the role of correspondents, so as better to showcase to their American partners the prominent role women played in Soviet society and the political impetus behind that. However, as McCarthyism took hold in the United States, the decision to participate in the scheme grew more politicized. The women who persisted with correspondence with their Soviet friends tended to be politically more on the left and sometimes members of the Communist Party. The correspondence moved away from more “ordinary” women, as the context in both countries shaped the selection and self-selection of women. Peri’s account of the attitudes toward the pen pal program sheds light on the perceptions of women in both countries, and what she finds in common is the assumption that women were not serious—that is, women were not taken seriously in politics and public life, and therefore no one paid much attention to their activities. In the Soviet Union, this attitude was probably why women were allowed to conduct the letter exchanges in the 1940s and even late 1940s, at a time when contacts with abroad were highly scrutinized and could put a person in danger of criticism, arrest, and other sanctions. In the United States, Peri argues persuasively, the House Un-American Activities Committee did not seriously cross-examine women letter writers and accepted at face value their claims not to understand or remember details of the scheme and arrangements; men facing similar questions were interrogated at length, badgered and cajoled for hours. Peri also shows that American women, at least, consciously used these assumptions made about them to protect themselves when accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee. It is unclear whether Soviet women found the same agency, though, as an analogy, Peri suggests that the fact that women suffered less during the Terror and purges points to similar attitudes in Soviet society. The history of this program has less context and background regarding the Soviet side, as Peri was unable to follow up with many families on the history of the Soviet correspondents. It does show, however, the attitudes of the Soviet authorities to activities and initiatives of “the people.” They were essentially uninterested in the rapprochement and understanding that it could produce for individuals. Instead, the pen pal exchange was seen only as a chance to exert influence and soft power. There was a significant lack of trust in ordinary women to do this job properly. Perhaps one of the most lasting impressions of this unusual and thought-provoking study is the depth of some of the letters exchanged, the warmth, openness, and investment that women extended to each other across the very significant division of the Cold War. The letters are a reminder that the ease of communication that we have in the digital age is no guarantee of the quality of our interactions. When writing letters and being in contact was so much more effort, it was also greatly valued and pursued with such sincerity and investment that it is hard to imagine nowadays.