NEW BOOKS

Southland Times, Issue 25692, 29 June 1943, Page 2

NEW BOOKS

STALIN S RUSSIA Public interest in the Soviet Union, stimulated by achievements of the Red Army, has created a demand for information which writers and publishers are doing their best to satisfy. Why do the Russians fight so well? are the facts about their social experiments against the background of revolution? Is the ideal of the people’s State a great political force that must influence the future of other countries? These are some of the questions answered by Albert Rhys Williams in The Russians (Harrap, 7/6 net). The author is an American who saw the coming of the revolution and who lived in Russia for 13 years after the beginning of the great experiment. He writes clearly, and with an eye for dramatic detail. His book covers a wide field, and gives an interpretation that should enable many readers to clarify their opinions. IN OLD ETHIOPIA

Byron de Pororok, explorer and archaeologist, has drawn upon years of adventure for the materials of Dead Men Do Tell Tales (Harrap, London, 10/6 net). It opens with a brief sketch of his early training in archaeology; but the main part of the book is devoted to a journey through the wilds of Abyssinia. The expedition picked its" way through jungles inhabited by primitive tribesmen. Mr de Pororok, who seems to be a man with steady nerves, was more than once the hidden witness of barbaric ceremonies. He writes of slaves and their savage masters, of escapes from fire, treacherous natives, wild bees and wild animals. His easy style, and the dramatic quality of his personal experience, make this an interesting and exciting book. ONE-ACT PLAY

The Willing Horse, by Isobel Andrews (Progressive Publishing Society, Wellington, 2/6) was awarded the Sir Michael Myers Cup for the best play produced during the 10th annual festival of community drama. With a cast entirely of women, and the kitchen of a country hall—where a dance is in progress—for its single setting, it unfolds a comedy of rural intrigue. The dominant character is Miss Kate Wilkes, local postmistress and handywoman for the district, who contrives to patch up a young friend’s damaged romance while cutting the sandwiches for supper. Smooth dialogue, salted with humour, provides a clear insight into the characters, and the situation develops briskly. This one-act play is admirably suited for stage presentation. POET AND BOMBER

A bombing raid on Germany is the theme of Operation By Night, by Flight Lieutenant George Eades (Hodder and

Stoughton, through W. S. Smart, 2/6 net). The story is told in verse, and the poet uses a seven-line rhyming stanza —a metre which is usually more suitable for shorter pieces. But the subject has a dramatic interest which lifts the verse beyond its technical handicaps. The take-off at . sunset, the long journey through darkness, the “hundred sparklets” bursting on the far horizon when the plane draws near its target, the tension of attack and the flight homewards are familiar details for those who study the war news. But they are shown here as the sensitive perceptions of 1 a poet. The music of words gives them a force and reality that arouse the imagination.