A Contrast of Two Societies

Originally published by one university press in 1973, Paul Hollander’s work is now reissued in paperback by another. The publishing business being what it is a revised text is impossible, but this new edition does carry a new Introduction in which the author makes a “reassessment” of his original work. Not surprisingly, he finds himself satisfied, though not complacent, with the way it has held up, and I think there are good grounds for his satisfaction.

As his subtitle indicates, Hollander contrasts two societies commonly conceived of as being antithetical social structures, although at the time he was writing, the idea that there was a “convergence” of the two was a popular notion. An attempt at ...