EL CAMPESINO: LIFE AND DEATH IN SOVIET RUSSIA (218 pp.)Valentín González and Julian GorkinPutnam ($3.50).
Valentín González, a fiery, black-bearded Spaniard, was once a Communist hero and why not? The man had all the makings : 1) he was a landlord-hating peasant who could kill an enemy and sleep soundly afterwards; 2) he was a fine troop commander, a tough, natural leader who became a living legend during the Spanish civil war; 3) he was a Communist.
"El Campesino," he was calledThe Peasantand all over the world the leftist press worked overtime to make him a dazzling symbol. Ilya Ehrenburg, one of Russia's...