BOOKS and AUTHORS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 286, 29 August 1931, Page 18

BOOKS and AUTHORS

A Weekly Survey

By

“Liber”

Give a man a pipe he can woke, Give a man a book he can read: And his home is bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed. —James Thomson.

BOOKS OF THE DAY The Indian Mutiny in Perspective. Lt.-Gen) Sjir George MacMunn’s “The ’ Indian Mutiny in Perspective" (G. Bell and Sons) is a straightforward and very readable narrative of that tragic cataclysm in ,the .history, of India,- for ever famous as “The Mutiny.” The author, who- has been for many years in India, and has visited every accessible scene and talked to every veteran he could find, brings the experiences 'of the trained soldier to make clear his points. (18/-.) Sir Edward Grey. "Sir Edward Grey’s (Viscount Grey of Fallodon) Speeches on Foreign Affairs, 1904-1914” (Allen and Unwin), contains a selection, by Dr. Paul Knaplund, Professor of History in the University of Wisconsin, of the speeches delivered by. the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, between the dates mentioned. The speeches refer to matters of foreign policy and international • relations, and are prefaced by a very thoughtful and wise introduction by Dr. Knaplund which does high credit to Sir Edward Grey for his fine discernment of the difficulties which beset Britain's foreign policy. (14/-.) Joseph Priestley..'.' . A very thorough and interesting work is the biography of “Joseph Priestley” by Anne Holt. (Oxford University Press, Humphrey .Milford), ■ This la-the life of one whose works oiv scientific and other subjects render him a 1 now almost for-' gotten eighteenth ; * century worthy. Priestley became famous by his association with what bis'.biographer calls rational theology.. -.He finally left England towards the end-of the eighteenth century .for America, where he became much esteemed for his personal attributes and 'admired for his scientific ability. Priestley was in his day a famous, chemist, and by his experiments and discoveries gave valuable assistance •to the cause of science, assistance which is even now of notable value. Mr. Francis W. Hirst writes a useful introduction to Miss Holt’s modest but most useful biography. (H/6.) ; The Lure of the Fine Arte. ; Mr.’ Frederick ’ Colin Tilney, author of "The Lure of the Fine Arts” (Chapman and Hall), is well known in England a» an expert on art subjects who has published mubh, and lectured widely upon "The Appeal of the Picture” and similar subjects. Mr. z Tilney'a contention is that “the term ‘Fine Arts’ should be used exclusively for painting, sculpture,. modelling, engraving, carving, and any other allied activity that exerts individual , taste and special skill.” ' Sir George Clausen, who provides a brief introduction to Mr. Tilney’s book, says that “the .careful reader cannot fail to perceive that the worth and appeal of a work of art reside in the artist’s power to perceive and transmit through his work some one or other of the endless manifestations of beauty in Nature that surround us on every hand.” (20/-.) ' f When the Americans Came In. General Pershing’s book, “My Experiences During the AVorld War’’. (Hodder ; and Stoughton), is a portentously large and rather heavy book, of oyer 700 pages, descriptive, of .General Pershing's experiences in the World War, America’s,participation which commenced: in April,'. 1917, the first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force landing at St. Nazairein June of that year and close on two armies of about 1,200,000 men being ;engaged in the Meuse-Argonne fighting in November; ,1918. The original hope and intention of Britain and France wag that the American War Department should supply detachments of infantry to reinforce.the British-and French;troops, with whom they would ,be trained. General Pershing’s . view was quite opposed to this. From the first he was determined that the American units should be kept separate,' and that there should, be nothing approaching incorporation in the British and French, Armies. .• And to this view, rightly, or’ wrongly, he held good and neither .Foch,' nor. Haig, nor Lloyd George, nor Clemenceau; though they tried hard, could shift him from this determination. As time went on much occurred which was calculated to shake 'Pershing's, confidence in his own view, but never did Pershing recede from the position first laid down. He held fast to his opinion, and to do him justice it must be admitted he was supported by American home opinion, even when it was made manifest to. him that the French and British Allies could not bear the strain. ‘ We have read with gratification the tribute paid by Pershing to the efficient help of British : shipping. _ Of the men who came to France, 46.25 per cent, of the American Army was carried in American ships, and 51.25 per cent, in ships which were British owned or’ controlled. The result of the. British transport effortwas that in October, 1918, when the war came to an end, America had close on two. i’lion men in. France. Pershing himse’t' pays tribute to the fine effort of the British transport, for he says thnt ■ the rate American - troops were poured into France was hitherto unbelievable. General Pershing gives a full and very careful narrative of his experiences during the war. He is clearly a man of strong determination and ;rigld: in his opinions once formed, f Here and therfe are passages which may seem rather derogatory to British prestige, but on the whole his account is very fair. The book is illustrated by a number of rough maps ; which further explain the districts described. (31/6.) ’ England of the Windmills. Everyone has heard how Beautiful is the English countryside, and not the least picturesque object in rural districts is the windmill, although growing less and less frequent, just as it is even in Holland, where the windmills are gradually being replaced by other power - producing devices. In “England of the Windmills” (J. M. Dent and Sons) Mr. S. P. B; Mais sends the Englishman out on a.mew sort, of tour. His idea is to take him round the England of the windmills, first, because of their combined accessibility and remoteness; secondly, because of the intrinsic beauty of their setting; thirdly, because ,of their, significance in the past; and fourthly, because the way to them takes the sightseer over long untrodden tracks. (10/-.) • . Wool-Classing. It says much for the practical value of “Classing the Clip, a handbook of woolclassing” (Angus and Roberson, Syd-

ney), by Clarence Edward Cowley, Lecturer in Charge, Technical College, Sydney, that a second edition of thia important work, first issued in 1928, should now have been called for. The author, who has taken advantage of the republication of his book to revise and enlarge it considerably, deals with every phase of woolclassing, the preparation of the fibre for market, the spinning quality and yield of wool, and many other questions associated with the marketing of the product. (19/-.) An Introduction to Politics. In “An Introduction to Politics" (Allen and Unwin), Harold J. Laski, Professor of Political Science in the University of London, sets forth the basic problems of politics in a. form which will make them intelligible/ to the average interested reader. In successive chapters he deals with “The Nature of the State,” “The Place of the State in Society,” “The Organisation of the State,” and "The State and the International Community.” A short bibliography and a full index add greatly to the value d the popular handbook. The Art of Riding. "The Art of Riding,” by Lt-CoL M. I. ■ McTaggart, D.S.O. (Methuen and Co,), is a "text-book for beginners and others” by one who is a well-known and popular expert on all matters connected with riding. (10/-.) 1 Swimming for AU. “Swimming for All," by R. C. Venn er (G. Bell and Sons), is a book of simple and practical instruction for those who would learn how -to swim and .for those who would fain swim better. The author's - remarkable system of dry-land tuition is < Special feature. (4/6.) ■ : . ■ ■ . London for Everyman. Messrs. J. M. Dent and Sons have added to ths bookman’s debt of gratitude by: issuing a new handbook to London, . “London for Everyman,” a companion volume now, to their excellent “Paris for Everyman," which Is the best guide to Paris bf which .I .know. . “London for Everyman’! fins ■ many of the features which distinguish J the volume on . Paris.' ;Apart from “A Short History of London”! and "Walks in London," in which : all the well-known public institutions are named, literary and other details are given about each district described. Then • there are lists of famous dining-places, ■ theatres, and,, of course, cinemas, picture galleries, museums, and the like. You are -given advice and prices in the principal hotels in the city. There is ■ list of interesting London graves and a useful chapter on American Links with London. • Best of all* , perhaps, and exceptionally useful are the forty-eight maps in colour and a full street index. (3/6.) i >:/• ;• < i. . .. .; • : Shakespeare’s Workmanship. "Q’s” (Sir Arthur Quillet Couch’s) book;--. “Shakespeare’s Workmanship” (Cambridge University Press, Fetter Lane/‘E,O.)-consists of the lectures delivered by-“Q” at Cambridge in 1917, the book first being published in 1918. The author seeks to discover just what Shakespeare was trying to do as a playwright Undaunted by. the frowns of scholars, Sir. Arthur's conviction persists that we may all approach Shakespeare in our different ways; (6/-.) j'"The Traveller’s Library. ,

The eclecticism shown by whoever is responsible for the selection of books in Jonathan Cape’s “Traveller’s Library” is decidedly to his credit. A recent addition .to this , excellent series is Ronald Fraser’s ingenious and amusing fantasy "The Flyihg Draper,” which was first published in 1924. Mrl Humbert Wolfe contributes a well-written"introduction in which be sees, in Fraser’s hero, the flying Mr. Coddings, a reminder of Wells’s “Kipps.” Religion, and Science. , Dr. Robert A. Millikan,. author of “Science and the New Civilisation” (Charles Scribner’s Sons, Beck Street, London,: W.l), is not a believer in the fnr too common idea that machine civilisation is a menace or that man is becoming a slave; to the machines.. He holds that the marvellous discoveries and inventions of the last fifty years have relieved mankind from the worst of the physical bondage ..with which all past civilisations have enchained him, but answers in his own - way the jjuestlon as to what man will do with this new. leisure—will it lead to decadence or be extinguished in some war of its own creation? (6/-.) “Man and His Universe.” ’ From overseas reviews one had come to understand that something exceptional had been done by Mr. John LangdonDavies in his book “Man and His Universe” (Harper and Brothers, 16/-), and expectations were fully realised when a belated copy came ■to hand. It is the sort of book—full of good things—: that one despairs of treating adequately in a short review. Here in language that every layman can follow and discourse that is clear as crystal is traced the . history of man’s ideas about the world' he lives in. Naturally, therefore, it is a history of knowledge or science, philosophy or religion—call it what you will—and just as inevitably it deals with the evolution of man’s ideas about God. All sorts of oddities and tags are introduced into the story, but the author never loses the thread. This is the authentic and true “thriller” — man's quest after the light, or truth, or the Word,>or God. Sometimes nowadays we feel that all is vanity, that all our science ends in materialism, that the mystery has been- taken out of life. But Mr. Langdon-Davies shows that we are living in the period of the New Renaissance, that we are as far ns ever from ordering or understanding everything. Man has not yet mapped his universe, but is still tip-toe on the threshold looking out on a rosy-tinted dawn. To all who are tired of the trash of tireless printing presses, of thin novels, merchanical; "thrillers” and rubbishy biography, this book can be recommended as a refreshment and intellectual delight .

LIBER’S NOTE-BOOK Mr. Horace Annesley Vachell, the novelist (his best book is on Harrow school), has been elected president of the Dickens Fellowship for 1931-35. Other good Dickensiane now holding office in tne Fellowship are Alfred Noyes, the poet; J. B. Priestley (author of “The Good Companions" and that 1 almost Dickensian noyel, “Angel Pavement”); Ralph Strass, whose biograph of Dickens was such a success when it was published ; Professor Holdsworth, and Mr. Grant Robertson. .An autograph letter of some special interest wa« to be sold in London last month. This was a letter sent by . John Wesley to Wilberforce —the last he is known to have written. J. B. Priestley lectured In New York, dealing with American books and authors. Hi» was purely a critical and thoughtful examination, but a leading New York paper j came out with a ecare headline, Flays American Writers. Quite Useless for Him to Deny the Charge.” As Priestley says, “Literary criticism is no use to a popular newspaper, which demands something sensational, a grand explosion,” and “Literature did not find its way on to the front page of the American Press till Theodore Druse and Sinclair Lewis began slapping each other’s faces.” „ A blind editor is eutelx, a novelty. Yet Mr, John Wihall, editor of the Middlesex “Chronicle,” who edited that paper for forty years, was quite blind. His predecessor in the position was, at one time, William Le Queux, the novelist. Major Francis Yeats • Brown, the author of “The Bengal Lancer,” is about to publish a new book on India and India’s religions. ' Lady Cynthia Asquith is editing a new collection of ghost stories by famous authors. It will have the gruesome title “When Churchyards Ywn." An English humorist! adds, “but I’m sure its’ readers "won’t.”' . ' . ’ ■: '. / Oliver Madox Hueffer, .the author, died i in London the other day. Ho was a grandson of Ford Madox-Brown, the pre-. Raphaelite painter, and brother of Ford ‘Madox Ford, the novelist, Hueffer, who happened to be in Mexico when one of the numerous "revolutions” was on, had the curious experience of being“executed” and "buried” —according to official records.. . A new “copuplete" edition of the works of Waiter Savage Landor is to.be published in aixteen volumes by Chapman and Hall. Mr. T. Earle Welby is the. editor. A complete Landor wilt be very welcome, but at thirty shillings a volume this edition wdll .be too costly for most bookmen,. Crump’s Landor, published some years ago by Messrs. J. M. Dent is a very nice edition in eight volumes, but this edition has, I think, .been long- out of, print 1 Messrs. Collins and Sone, who seem to specialise in “detective’’-yarns and criminal mysteries (they-are the publishers of F. Wills Croft’s very readable novels, in which Inspector French is a leading character), are about to issue a'book by Edgar Wallace on the career of Charles Peace, who was notorious in the annals of' British crime. ■■ ‘ ■ ■ ■ ' / ! Dean Inge is going to bring out, with Longman’s, a new anthology -of the Bible. The title is “Everyman’s Bible" and is to be divided into sections, each dealing with.a certain state of mind, or giving passages which have bearings upon the common or uncommon situations in which every ordinary, man finds himself. All the plays’ of Mr. -G. B. -Shaw have been -published, in one volume, by Constable at aboiit 15/-. The; prefaces are omitted, and to many Shavian admirers the prefaces are everything. Still, the volume Is very cheap. Miss Tennyson Jesse, the well-known novelist, is the wife of Mr. Harwood, theatrical manager. She was originally trained as a painter.

The “Dolphin” and “Phoenix” • -Series Two recent additions to “The Dolphin” series (Chatto and Windus) are an appreciation of Marcel Proust, the famous French author of that long and semiautobiographical novel, "Recherche du Temps Perdu,” by Samuel Beckett, and the poem, "Opus 7,” by Sylvia Townsend Warner. 5Tr. Beckett gives a very thoughtful essay on Proust. Miss Warner's long poem, “Opus 7,” reminds us in a way of some of the longer and earlier poems of John Masefield. Her poetic form is. sometimes rather difficult to follow. To the Phoenix Library (Chatto and Windus) has been added a volume or "Selected Poems by Coventry Patmore/’ edited by Derek Patmore. In his Introduction, Mr. Derek Patmore gives a very interesting’ biography of Coventry Patmore, whose “Angel in the House” was one of the greatest poetic contributions of the Victorian era, and whose portrait by Sargent is one of the most brilliant paintings in the National Portrait Gallery. Michael Arlen on New York. Michael Arlen, the author of “Men Dislike Women" (Heinemann), has been spending a few weeks in New York. The resulting story*, the plot of which is slight, gives us an inside track view of the ultra-rich and would-be “one art” set. of New York, of the snobbishness and corruption of which Arlen draws as unsparingly satirical pictures an he has. done, in his “Green Hat” and other; novels, for the West End of London.

SOME RECENT FICTION Dark Bridwell. “Dark Bridwell,” by Vardls Fisher (V. Gollancz), is an American novel of rare flavour. It is the story of how the Brid- ( wells lived at Bridwell Place, on Antelope . Flat, in a desolate though naturally beau- | tiful district in Idaho. Charley Bridwell is a born loafer,’idle, by instinct and proud of his laziness. He takes with him his young wife Leia, who, although she cannot understand him, respects — indeed, almost loves —his -blatant masculinity, and for years puts up with, although never sympathising with, his brutish laziness, Gradually Bridwell, after teaching I his boy Jed to be as lazy as himself, ill- I treats him foully, and Jed neyer forgets | nor forgives. A strange, pathetic, but > strong story — strong specially in its rough, convincing characterisation and singularly unlike the majority of American novels. War Prisoners. . , In his "Two Prisoners,” translated from the Hungarian original by Joseph Collins, M.D., and Ida Zeitlin (Heinemann), Lajos Zilchy gives an interesting account of the trial and sufferings in the prison camps and Tartar cities of : Siberia. The story grapples boldly with the problem of the.conflict of,morals set up by the enforced separation of a man. and his wife when the man is taken prisoner early in the War. Ferdinand Goetel, author of “From Day to Day,”' translated by Winifred Cooper (Elkin, Mathews, and Marrot, 54 Bloomsbury Street), is ft- leading Polish novelist who has long had a Continental reputation, and whose novel, the first to appear in an English version, is introduced by . John Galsworthy, who evidently has a high opinion of ■ its merit. The novel takes the form bf a diary. ■ “Sapper’s” Latest. ; ■■ -. “Sapper’s” latest, “The Island of Terror" (Hodder and Stoughton), is rather disappointing, coming from an author Whose Htighie Drummond stories were eo entertaining. “Sapper" writes well as a rule, but “The Island of Terror" is worse than the penny awful of our youth. The Menace of the Downs, Miles Burton’s “Menace of the Downs” (Collins, Sons and Co.) has been selected as a "Crime Club” book, ‘ and is sensnenough to warrant ita choice. A quiet country ” village is - suddenly horrified by the death, properly supposed by the local medico. and a Scotland Yard expert to be a, case of murder, but which for a time is thought to be a case of suicide. After a month or so, another boy is found dead, this, time there being no doubt of murder. The solution of the ■ two mysteries is cleverly arrived-at by the Scotland-Yard emissary. Miss Young's Novels. . To his series of Miss Young’s novels, to which, especially to her ‘ William and ’"The Mieses Mallett,” we-have already alluded, Mr. Jonathan Cape has now added the same author’s very successful "Miss Mole,” which is remarkable for its well-restrained . humour, and its firm character drawing. ; . " '

PUBLIC LIBRARY This Week’s Selection (By Victor S. Lloyd.) I am not ashamed to admit that occasionally I find time to read a detective atory. lam In good company in my liking of this type of novel; both the King and Mr. Stanley Baldwin have publicly stated that they find relief from worry and work between the corers of a detective or mystery story. There are certain writers who have the happy knack of combining mystery with humour, such as J. Jefferson Farjeon, the author of “No. 17," “The House of Disappearance.' etc., and Miss Dorothy Sayers. ,who ■writes extraordinarily good detective stories in which humour is present in good measure. 1 , ' Whether a fictional detective will ever be created that will take hold_ of the imagination of the public as did Sherlock Holmes is a debatable point. It is interesting to learn, however, that the methods employed by Conan Doyle’s famous character have actually been put into - practice by Dr. Edmond Locard. the Director of the Technical Laboratories of Police at Lyons. I came across this interesting fact in a recently-published book called “Some Persons Unknown,” by Henry 1. F. Rhodes. This book is an account of the methods employed in the scientific detection of crime. After reading it I shall take greater pleasure than ever in reading detective stories. But even for the person who does .pot care for this class of fiction I would recommend the book as being worth while; it is easy to read because all technical details have been avoided, and it is. full of surprising information ; as. for Instance, that the camera, the microscope.’ the spectroscope, the Xray. and the ultra-violet-ray are employed to bring their guilt home to murderers, forgers, and other criminals. There is-a very interesting chapter on criminal psychology. and another on the. reception of expert evidence by iudges and jurymen. , Among other books in demand . at the public library are the following “Easy to Kill.” Hulbert / Footner's Madame Storey" is the most popular woman detective in .crime fiction.. The subtle, but tenacious grip of her velvet hand is famous. “Easy to Kill” will. fascinate and baffle the-reader with its ingenuity,,; < “The Romance of Peter Warne.” •by Una L. Silberrad. - “The Bandit of Bayhorse Basin.” by Frank C. Robertson. • : “Smiling Charlie.” by Max Brand. "Ranger BUI,” by Clem Yore. Ranger Bill is sent when the local police fail, after a well-organised and desperate gang who are working the big towns. - The ranger of the plains matches guns jmu wits with the cruel and cunning gangsters of the city dives, and comes put on top, providing thrills and entertainment from first page to.last

BEYOND AGNOSTICISM Professor Bernard Iddings Bell, who is the Warden of ,St Stephen’s OoUw, Columbia University (p.8.A.), has in his book “Beyond Agnosticism” (Allenjtnd Unwin) written specially for those people who. are, as he says, not only .agnostics about God, but about life and themselves, who find easy and purchaseable pleasures quite unsatisfactory and feel that there must be some reawn for Bring waucn their materialistic experience has neyer enabled them to discover.- For, a« the author says, there is no religion in science, but there is religion in men, and that is why the scientific explanation of man win never satisfy men. (6/6.)