IN SHORT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 18

IN SHORT

Abstracts and Brief Chronicles \

The derivation of Nazi theories of race and’ power from Nietzsche is commonly asserted and is supported by sentences drawn from the philosopher’s writings. The derivation is false and injuriously falsifies his teaching. Mr M. P. Nicolas writes From Nietzsche Down to Eitler (William Hodge. 149 pp. 57net.) as an exposition of the Nietzschean philosophy, designed to expose this error. The work is skilfully done, and much more thoroughly than by the quoting of sentences that run counter to the abused utterances about the superman and his morality and his rights; but it will do no harm to quote here his remark in 1870, “I look on Prussia of to-day as an dangerous power for civilisation,” and his other remark, “One thing only could interest me in Germany; that would be her attempt to bring about the victory of the loftiest ideas.

Professor Constantino Bresciani. Turroni’s The Economics of lafe. tion (Allen and Unwin. 464 pp. net.) is a study of the German currency depreciation. 1914-23, and of its effects. As Professor Lionel Rob. bins says In a foreword, “Hitler is the foster-child of the inflation”; but this is not a politically tendentious work, though clearly one with pobtical lessons to study. The /comprehensiveness and technicality of evj. dence and argument make this a book for specialist readers; but na special equipment is necessary to understand Professor Brescianl-Tur-roni’s unqualified summary of the results of the inflation: “It annihfl. ated thrift; it made reform of the national budget impossible for yearsit obstructed the solution of the B*-’ parations question; it destroyed incalculable moral’ and intellectual values. It provoked a serious revolution in social classes, a few people accumulating wealth and forming • class of usurpers of national pm. perty, whilst millions of individuals were thrown into poverty.” The book is issued in English as No. IV of the Sir Halley Stewart publications. The pontificate of his Holiness, Pope Pius XI, has stretched through almost 16 years, now, of extraorti. nary political, economic, and sodal disturbance. The Pope has addressed himself with indefatigable zeal, great courage, and great capacity to the problems which this period has multiplied before Church and Pontiff, The biographical study bv Lord Clonmore, Pope Pius XI aad World Peace (Robert Hale. 306 pp. 12/6 net.), though inevitably not without contentious argument and statement, reviews the many-sided work of the Pope, for peace and social welfare. An admirable book nowhere deserves closer attention than in the chapters on the Papacy and Italian Fascism, the conflict be-, tween the Vatican and the Nazis, and Spain.—Through Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd. Towards the end of last year Sr Samuel Hoare, Chancellor at He University of Reading, addressed members of the university on He Balanced Life (Hodder and Stoughton. 39 pp. 2/- net.) In a world paradoxically darkened by lawlessness and violent materialism while its intellectual enlightenment has nobly increased, this excellent discourse is designed to emphasise the value of “the quality of balance, essential for a University and for an Empire,” which he would see pursued in “not alone the mind but also the the soul.” Sir Samuel drew from the wisdom of Montaigne and quoted him well.—From I. S. Smart. ' ''' Major-General H. N.. Sargent firmly believes in the ; prophetic value of the Bible. In The Marvds of Bible Prophecy (Covenant Publishing Co. Ltd. 429 pp. 6A net) he traverses a number of prophecies and fulfilments, expounds the Books of Daniel and Revelation, shows the significance of the “signs of. tfe* times” now manifest and to filled, and concludes with a chapter on “Britain’s glorious mission.

A treatise on money which contains “no algebra or geometry and as few technical or specialised terms as possible” has an essential virtue for general readers. Myra Curtis and Hugh Townshend rightly claim at for Modern Money (George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd. 320 pp. 7/6 net.), which is an unusually lucid yet not unduly simplified account of the working of a monetary system. Its distinctive characteristic is that it examines and explains monetary phenomena, causes and effects, steadily as those of money in circulation and in interaction with the movements of trade and industry, while it only lightly sketches the institutional side of the system. It is, therefore, the sort of book which touches directly the concerns of industrialists and commercial open and can directly answer most of their theoretical or practical questions.

The Courage to be Real (Alexander Maclehose and Co. 247 pp. 5s net.) is another book of excellent essays by Geoffrey Allen, the author of “Tell John” and “Christ the Victorious.” His dispassionate analysis of modern mass movements is a salutary plea for the real freedom of the individual as opposed to dictator-inspired mob hysteria. While expressing his personal gratitude to the Oxford Group Movement, he sees in it the dangerous tendency of the times toward mass formation. Evangelisation at home or abroad, to be effective, must be preceded by the dedication of the self, freed from illusion, to the service of the living God, the only Reality. This is a book for the clergy and the thoughtful layman.

The Hon. Ralph Shirley’s book, The Mystery of the Human Double (Rider and Co. 189 pp. 6/- net.), is a study of “the astral self’ and the possibility of its projection (voluntary or involuntary) from the physical body. It treats also of “methods which have been adopted to leave the physical body at will,” without questioning the risks of the experiment, and of “the value of the results so obtained.”—Through Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.