MISCELLANY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28524, 1 March 1958, Page 3

MISCELLANY

No Cover Charge. By Robert Sylvester. Peter Davies. 218 PPThis interesting book is about the development of night clubs in fc New York. Born of prohibition, these clubs flourished for a brief period and now, according to tne author, have passed their hey-day. Some kept open for only a short while some, if a good haul was inade, only for a night. A few, the El Morocco and The Stork Club, are still doing well. In some, true art flourished, as in the early days in Harlem when .a man of the calibre of Vincent Yowmans would try out a new composition at a night club for his friends Jazz players would also gather in the evening at these "clubs to develop their art. This stage did not last for long. There were good pickings where people tended to spend money under the influence of alcohol and the crim inal element soon moved in. The degeneration of these clubs is a sad story and does not presen f a savoury aspect of American life Unfortunately for the non American reader much of it is told in slang that is at times almost unintelligible. The author has not thought it necessary to provide a glossary.

Spy for Germany. By Erich Gimpel. Robert Hale. 238 pp.

This is an astonishing story 31 German espionage. Erich Gimpel. who tells it, is a radio engineer. He went to South America in 1936 to learn Spanish. Coerced, according to the book, to serve the Fatherland, his activities in Peru during the early days of the war caused him to move to the United States for his own safety After the Americans entered the war he was interned and then repatriated on an exchange. Back in Germany his spy career began in earnest. A number of enterprises occupied him until near the end of the war. Well practised by this time, he was chosen for an allout gamble to try and find out what progress had beer made with the atom bomb and to delay it if at all possible. How he was to delay the bomb is not clear, but the desperate nature of this mission reflects the situation in Germany at that time. Caught and sentenced to death the account of Gimpel’s trial and the final commutation of his sentence are dramatic. The whole story is well written and holds the reader in suspense.

Out of My Darkness. By William Sheppard with Fritz Blocki. Arthur Barker. 224 pp.

William Sheppard lost his sight when he was eight years old, and regained it alter a corneal transplantation when he was 29; his account of the years of blindness and his triumphant mastering of material hardships—poverty and insufficient education as well as the almost beyond imagining difficulties of the blind—is a story of incredible determination and courage. He fiercely resented his blindness, and pity even more, and he faced his “transition to the sightless world” with a will to live an active and normal life, beholden to no-one. He would look normal, he would carry no stick, he would find his way round New York, he would get a job. he would marry and find j happiness. All these he did. so successfully and with such ingenuity that his blindness was frequently not discovered. Mr Sheppard’s world was a tough one, anti if he is not experienced in writing he is experienced in living, and his book reading for

Rescue. By Elliott Arnold. Victor Gollancz. 352 pp. This is the story of the Air Rescue Service of the American Air Force. It is told in a series of episodes chosen from tne many rescue operations the service has undertaken in different parts of the world. The Air Rescue Service is a military force dedicated to the saving of life. Its splendid work must have done a good deal towards establishing the friendly intentions of .the United States—perhaps as much as some of the point four programmes. In a true Christian spirit, the men of the service are ready to risk their lives for those in danger The nature of their work takes them out in the worst possible conditions and calls for superb airmanship. The traditions the men have created reflects the splendid calibre of the pioneers. The origin of the service was the U.S.A.F. war-time rescue organisation which was in turn based on that of the R.A.F. The organisation now comprises 10,000 men, making up 45 air squadrons, stationed throughout the world. In 10 years, it is claimed, aid has been brought to over 44,000 people—a remarkable record, as each operation involves much flying, usually under appalling conditions. One episode captures the imagination more than any of the others. It is the feat of a Hawaiian helicopter pilot who blew a life raft with its two occupants, to safety using his rotor as a fan. The only point detracting from the excellence of this book is the unnecessary buildup the author tries to give to his heroes.

Secret Servants: The Story of Japanese Espionage. By Ronald Seth. Gollancz. 247 pp. This book gives a rather glamorised account of Japanese espionage. One of the first spies encountered in the book is Hirayama who, in 1897, was sent to a Russian garrison town near Port Arthur, there to open a store which would serve as a centre for the gathering of information about Russian activities in that area. His principal source of information about Russian military plans was Madame Gregorieva, wife of an army captain. During her husband’s periodic absences on duty. Hirayama often consorted with her and learnt much about Russian fortifications. The author’s aim is manifestly to let the human element have free play in his narrative. The facts he has gleaned from various sources are interwoven with imaginative stories of spies at work, so that the book is a blend of fact and fiction. The scene of the narrative changes often, taking in such places as Singapore, Indonesia. San Franisco, Panama, and the Gulf of California, and thereby reflecting the wide scale on which Japanese espionage operated—particularly from the 1930’s onwards. The book must be regarded as a popular rather than serious contribution to the subject with it deals. Villainy Unlimited. By Derick Goodman. Elek Books. 234 PPThe author is a journalist with some personal acquaintance of French criminals and police. He includes under the heading of “villainy” any crime motivated by hope of gain, from common theft and armed robbery to murder. The book’s sub-title, “The Truth about the French Underworld Today” is no doubt meant to whet readers’ anticipation, but those expecting sensational disclosures will be disappointed. The author’s main theme is that in France crime often does pay handsome dividends, and this he inefficiency

often that in the end he reader’s reaction is to sympathise with them in their difficult task of suppressing crime amongst a people whose attitude to law and order and whose mentality is very different from that in British countries. All the crimes described are full of dramatic incident, and the journalist-author has to heighten the use of