Samantha Smith in the Land of the Bolsheviks: Peace and the Politics of Childhood in the Late Cold War

On November 28, 1982, an eleven-year-old girl named Samantha Smith sent this letter to Yuri Andropov from her home in Manchester, Maine. A few months later, as the winter turned to spring, Samantha received a response. “It seems to me that you are a courageous and honest girl,” Andropov began.2 Her...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diplomatic history 2019-06, Vol.43 (3), p.418-444
Main Author: PEACOCK, MARGARET
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bolshevism
Bravery
Childhood
Cold War
Peace
Politics
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Summary:On November 28, 1982, an eleven-year-old girl named Samantha Smith sent this letter to Yuri Andropov from her home in Manchester, Maine. A few months later, as the winter turned to spring, Samantha received a response. “It seems to me that you are a courageous and honest girl,” Andropov began.2 Her decision to write to him, he said, was something that Becky, in Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, might have done. He reminded her that the Soviet people knew the price of war and had no intention of fighting again. Andropov reassured Samantha that the Soviet Union worked tirelessly for...
ISSN:0145-2096
1467-7709
DOI:10.1093/dh/dhy092