Einstein on Peace

Book excerpt: “Einstein was not only the ablest man of science of his generation, he was also a wise man, which is something different. If statesmen had listened to him, the course of human events would have been less disastrous than it has been.” This verdict, from the Preface by Bertrand Russell, sums up the importance of this first collection of Albert Einstein’s writings on war, peace, and the atom bomb. In this volume, thanks to the Estate of Albert Einstein, the complete story is told of how one of the greatest minds of modern times worked from 1914 until 1955 on the problem of peace. It is a fascinating record of a man’s courage, his sincerity, and his concern for those who survive him. This book is also a history of the peace movement in modern times. Here are letters to and from some of the most famous men of his generation, including the correspondence between Einstein and Sigmund Freud on aggression and war, and the true story of his famous letter to President Roosevelt reporting the theoretical possibility of nuclear fission. It is the living record of more than forty years of Einstein’s untiring struggle to mobilize forces all over the world for the abolition of war and the creation of a supranational organization to solve conflicts among nations.