The first four volumes of this projected series of general histories deal with areas of particular contemporary interest: "Russia and the Soviet Union," by Warren Bartlett Walsh (640 p. $10.00); "The Near East," by William Yale (485 p. $7.50); "The Far East," by Nathaniel Peffer (489 p. $7.50); "Latin America," by J. Fred Rippy (579 p. $10.00).