SOME REVIEWS IN BRIEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23827, 30 November 1940, Page 4 (Supplement)

SOME REVIEWS IN BRIEF

TII ERR ERNST KLEIN, author of "Road to Disaster," is- an Austrian journalist who began his career on the Berlin Lokalanzeiger, and afterward moved for 30 years among the events of high politics and war. The book is a brilliant piece of reporting on a grand scale. Through those years the author went everywhere and met almost everybody. Ho is one of those who believes that there is no decent future for Germany until the Prussian spirit is broken up. "Road to Disaster," by Ernst Klein. (Allen and Unwin.) Mr. Francis Brett Young In "Mr. Lucton's Freedom," Mr. Francis Brett Young's hero makes a voyage of discovery. It extends, howover, no farther than the Wolsh border. Mr. Lucton is a wealthy, middle-aged man who decides that ho is tired of conventionally, run houses, butlers, high-powered motor-cars and a spoiled family, arid fjets out to rough it. Wo aro taken through tho countryside; thero aro charming sketches of place and people. It is all very pleasant. "Mr. Lucton's Freedom," by Francis Brott Young. (Heinemann.) Sir Philip Gibbs

Sir Philip Gibbs is tho chronicler of our times. His last two novels took us to the outbreak of Mar. In "Sons of tho Others," ho depicts in fiction tho events in Franco from* the arrival of the B.E.F. to Dunkirk. In the earlier scenes English officers ininglo gaily with their hospitablo French hosts, and there is one sentimental reunion..Then comes tho tragedy of J' ranco seen through tho eyes of Sir Philips humanly conceived characters. It is vivid and interesting narrative. "Sons .of tho Others," by Philip Gibb3. (Hutchinson.) Under the' Big Top

Mr. Walter' D. Edmonds writes of | adventure under the Big Top: circus life so vividly portrayed that wo travel in spirit through small American towns and live with the performers—the lovable Chad, his fellow waif, Caroline, and the procession, of clowns and showmen. Humorous, appealing, alive. "Chad Hanna" is a downright good tale. "Chad Hanna," by Walter D. Edmonds. (Collins.) "The Bishop's Crime" Of air well-established detectives of fiction, H. C. Bailey's Mr. lortune is at once the most maddening and the most satisfactory. He is maddening because he is a very real person (unlike most other detectives) with an irritating personality. Ho is satisfactory because, thanks to Mr. Bailey's gift of thinking out a good story and telling it well, ho always runs true to form. In this latest book the tale is so good and its characters so cleverly handled that even if you guess a little too soon how tho bishop's crime was committed there is no slackening of your interest. "Tho Bishop's Crime," by H. C. Bailoy. (Goliancz.) Political Atlas "Tho Penguin Political Atlas" is a compilation of a familiar and useful kind; it comprises 100 sketch-maps, with brief explanatory notes, giving graphically some of the main economic and political facts of importance today. "The Penguin Political Atlas." Compiled and Drawn by S. C. Johnson. (Penguin Books. Ltd.)

Surprise Ending

Mr. Harry Stephen Keeler is perhaps the most popular of American mystery story authors. Ffe writes at a rare pace and makes a newspaper reporter —who wants to get a. scoop and make his way in his profession solve the mvstery of "Cleopatra's Tears." The "tears" are famous jewels and the reporter is a "double" of the suspected man—that is why lie is given the chance to solve the mystery. There arc three suspects, but Mr. Keeler provides, as usual, a big surprise. "Cleopatra's Tears," by Harry Stephen Keeler. (Ward. Lock.)