'Political dissent during the Cold War is a well understood phenomenon, but the global perspective on this issue is often overlooked. Brown's work offers an invaluable reflection on the contested nature of human rights internationally in this period. It demonstrates the differing viewpoints on this topic from both superpowers, and the great value in complicating our understanding of how moral concepts were applied.'

Mark Hurst, Lancaster University, UK

This study offers new perspectives on the weaponization of human rights during the Cold War. Soviet leaders mirrored western championing of Soviet dissidents, by developing their own socialist conceptions of human rights. In connecting the New Left, Angela Davis, native American activists, and Arthur Scargill, James Petrie Brown shows us how the Soviet Union created its own dissidents. These figures were used to challenge capitalist societies and assert Soviet moral superiority.

Robert Dale, University of Newcastle, UK