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Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23364, 25 June 1941, Page 10

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,_^ —■•—«——————»«_ 4. , CURRENT, BQCm

Mrs Nicholson describes how and - r U her husband and their two daughters 'tf'j settled into a new lifjrs \-wa&aaAj&M few years before «# After nianyV v A years' military servicemen oversea S stations, enjoying privilege and pres- I tiee, it took courage to, return -fa an I almost foreign England on a compafe- i J tively small pension; and it took braiig ( to come to such favourable terms with . circumstance as they achieved in the v' comfort, elegance, and active interests of Norney Rough. England, beauti.' ful England, but such mists and cold after tropical sun and light! Homes stately indeed, but. how nightmared with the problems of finding help to run them! But most of the difficulties were solved. A modern house was found within 40 miles of London and a suitable school within a busride of the house. The garden was "broken in" and showing signs of beauty. Mrs Nicholson found anew real and useful interests to take the olace of previous responsibilities in her life She was even able, after gardening, housekeeping mothering, and social duties had all had their due from her, to earmark a small part of each day for writing. The details 'of this reconstruction, its disappointments, its successes, planned or fortuitous, , are described with vividl .particularity ■ It is a pity, though, the methodical reader may think, that when so many,. costs are recorded, there should be important blanks. It is more helpful to lenow the wages of the maid than the" cost of a child's portion of fish! The whole fa»ily had reached the happy state of being accepted by neighbours and the village, when the war began. They are coping with dangers now as well as with the taps and catches of the housekeeping budget. The foods that seemed so expensive may not be there at all. The ''treasure" houseparlourmaid-cook will be away in a factory. One hopei that after the war some of the problems of the middle-income group will have solved themselves m the social , changes that are taking place uiEnj. r land, and that, for instance, it■ wUliio longer be necessary to spend £2OO- .*■. £3OO each year on each child's: school, ing. This picture of rural England •■,■■ has sadness as well «s charm in these ; days.

AUSTRALIAN EXPANSION The British Empire M AiKtraU« An . Economic History* 1834-1939. .By Brian Fitzpatrick* Meibomne gat- ■ versity Press, in association Irtta the Oxford University Press. 529 pp. (21/-.) In this book Mr Fitzpatrick completes the task, begun in his "British ; Imperialism and Australia, 1783-1333, of an outline history of Australian development in relation to British un- ". ; perial expansion. Essentially this second volume traces the course and consequences of the transformation of Australia from a penal settlement to a field for the industrial application of imported capital. Early chapters review the general conditions up to 1840. Those that follow deal with the recession in the pastoral,industry in the decade 1840-1850. chiefly occasioned by the collapse of prices in England; with . the economic consequences of the gold discoveries: with the long developmental” period. 1861-1890, when settlement was systematically pursued and aided through land policies and public works policies, the industrial structure was diversified, and Australia became a wholesale supplier of Britain s food and raw materials piarkets; and with the changes, problems, and policies of the last 40 or 50 years. One chapter,’ however, may be singled out for special praise. This is a masterly survey of labour relations--1860 and 1912, supplemented pleted by a sectipn in the lastAihdp-■ ter, on the “modern Australian community.” , , „ Mr Fitzpatrick has very usefully widened the scope of his study by making many references to the parallel and connected history of New Zealand.

THE REVEALING PEN Self-Knowledge through Handwriting. By H. J, Jacoby. J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, (8/6 net.)

Mr Jacoby has prepared ,his book, not for those who want to become graphologists* but for those who are interested in the evidences of characr ter displayed in handwriting and want some guide in interpreting them. He attempts to “reveal the psychological laws underlying the various features of handwriting” and has developed a method of using “illustrative photo.graphs of bodily movements aijd scenes from life which are analogous to handwriting.” Mr Jacoby’s theory is> that the habits which are otherwise expressed in behaviour are correspondingly reflected in writing, so that anyone who can intelligently read the meaning of a man’s way of dressing himselfT furnishing his house, bearing himself in society, and so on, can also read “the expression- and gesture-lan-guage of handwriting” with the added advantage that writmg gives a permanent record, not a fleeting suggestion. Everything that Mr Jacoby says, in elaborating and applying the theory, is related to one or more of the 228 photographs and facsimiles of handwriting: and he is persuasively clear about it.

NOTE-BOOK Oxford Pamphlets The three latest additions (Nos. 4547) to the Oxford Pamphlets on World Affairs are The Jewish Question (James Farkes), Germany’s “New Order” (Duncan Wilson), and Canada (Graham Spry). Mr Parkes carries his essay to the conclusion that Palestine, after the war. will really contribute to the solution of the Jewish problem only if the “old and weary battle of the Balfour Declaration versus the promises to the Arabs” is abandoned and “a new basis . . . established as part of a general Near Eastern policy, in which the main responsibility must lie on Great Britain.” Mr Wilsons examination pf Germany’s “New Order” for Europe shows that it is “only the old order of exploitation, dressed in clever propaganda to appeal to “the genera! desire in Europe and America for economic stability' Mr Spry’s account of the “Canadian pattern.” racial, social, political, is a first-class piece of work. Drama' Mr J. W. Marriott’s annual selection of one-act plays has since 1931 become an institution. The Best One-Act Play ß of 1940 (George /G, tffaflWftrlJSfl , Ltd. 335 pp. 7s 6d wNII welcomed by the readfl^RJtWA., *eur actors who have its pleasant uses. Twelve plays are included. Two are by that accomplished veteran, M r Harold Brighouse. Mr A. A. Milne s “The Ugly Duckling” heads the hstj and other playwrights are Edward Percy, Madge Pemberton, T. B. Morris, Mikhail Aklom, Philip Johnson, Joe Corrie, James Parish, Helen Foy, and John Thorburn. New World' The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Mr J. D. G. Medley, recently broadcast for the Australian Broadcasting Commission four ad* dresses, the theme of which was that, when the war is won, “our chance will come”—the chance to make a paradise in Australia, “if we set about our task, knowing what we want to do and united in a belief that it can be done. The four addresses, those of a P l 3”? 3 } idealist, are now printed in a pamphlet entitled What Next? (Melbourne University Press. 23 pp. 1/-). Basic English Bible The Cambridge University Press, ia association with Evans Brothers Lta-, has issued The New Testament in Baa® English (461 pp. 3/- net.). In this .new translation the 850-word vocabulary of Basic English is expanded i one of 1000 words. The result is.» versipn of great value to readers ww know little English and of consider* able interest to those whose rootnw* tongue it is and who, particularly. familiar with either the Hew#® 0 the Authorised Version or both.