NEW BOOKS REVIEWED

Taranaki Daily News, 17 August 1935, Page 21 (Supplement)

NEW BOOKS REVIEWED

TOURING IN THE DOMINION. IRISH PEOPLE AND PROBLEMS. “Touring In New Zealand,” by Dr. A. J. Harrop. George Allen and Urwin, Ltd., London. A. J. Fyfe, Ltd., New Plymouth, Dr. Harrop has made of “Touring In New Zealand” a most interesting and refreshing volume. He has given just the admixture of history to make description vivid and to give it an appeal to those who have never visited the Dominion as well as to those to-whom New Zealand is home. The book should stimulate a desire among New Zealanders to obtain a wider acquaintance with their own country, for the author takes his readers on a “personally conducted” tour which affords him the opportunity of demonstrating not only the unique character of much of New Zealand’s scenery but of the history, Maori and pakeha, which gives peculiar interest to certain localities. Nor is the book too high-brow to mention such details as the means of locomotion for the tourist whose funds are limited.

The brief description of the settlement of New Zealand by Polynesians and of the birth and development of European settlement is an excellent condensation of material in which without such a guide as Dr. Harrop the oversea inquirer into New Zealand history is likely to find wearisome bewilderment. It is a sample of the elimination of all but essentials that gives the book its crispness and yet enables the reader to reach acquaintance with the places visited. • /

The growth 1 of the principal cities, the circumstances in which they were founded; the history of such a town as Hokitika, where 70 years ago the population rose in less than three years from 830 to 50,000, and to-day numbers less than 3000, the reason being the rise and fall of the gold mining industry; the wonderful treasures contained in the Turnbull library at Wellington or the Auckland Public Library; the marvels of the Waitomo Caves, and the attraction ■of ’ "the beautiful and lonely cone of Mt. Egmont” are but a few of the subjects Dr. Harrop deals with so refreshingly.

He is, of course, well known in Taranaki and there are many in the province who will agree with him that “to appreciate properly the spell which Egmont weaves it is advisable to spend some weeks in Taranaki—to see the mountain from all sides and in all its varying moods." That is a counsel of perfection, •but for those who can spend only a day or two with the mountain this book gives assistance in making the most of their opportunities. Dr. Harrop’s faculty for condensation of history is further evidenced in his description of the founding of New Plymouth and the subsequent history of the province of Taranaki. In less than two pages he succeeds in giving his readers sufficient information to enable them to appreciate the difficulties of the past and what there is of interest to the present-day visitor. In like manner is the history of Gisborne and Poverty Bay compressed into a few sentences, sufficient perhaps to awaken the desire for further inquiry by those with the time and opportunity of doing so, and affording the reader who has neither sufficient grip to enjoy the description of the town and. district and to quicken desire to see it. Dr. Harrop has the “seeing eye” for more than historical records or scenic attractions.' Hence he writes interestingly of the grave of Charles Brown, “the friend of Keats,” of a library in Whangarei containing the “greatest private collection of manuscripts and works of Alexandre Dumas, or of the relics qf Captain Cook’s visit to the southern fiords. “Touring In New Zealand” is a book that can be recommended as a pleasant companion for spare hours, and as a fund of information about th® Dominion all the more easy to make use of because of the excellent illustrations throughout the volume. “Spilt Milk,” by Nis Petersen. Lovat, Dickson and Thompson, Ltd., London. A. J. Fyfe, Ltd., New Plymouth. Politics in Ireland have frequently mystified Britons in other parts of the Empire, particularly those who. have seen men of Irish blood holding high office in the Dominions, and with no suggestion that the man from Cork sees any less attractiveness in British citizenship than does a man from Kent. , Mr. Petersen’s book, if it does not enlighten the Anglo-Saxon as to the causes of the bitterness between England and southern Ireland, gives some poignant instances of the quarrels between themselves which have been the curse of the Irish people for so many centuries. “Is it peace in Ireland you’re looking for?” asks one of his characters. “Do you not know your country’s history? Rebellion, constant rebellion . . . were there but one Irishman left in the world he would be rebelling against himself. The Irish have yet to show the world that they are good for anything but raising rebellions and breeding horses -. . . They want peace; they are tired to death of fighting, of seeing boys made into corpses, of , having their farms burnt down and being dragged out of their beds in the middle of the night. Ninety per cent, of the population want peace now ... A few weeks ago I saw a man lying outside the street door here. It was all up with him. His windpipe was slit, no time to send for a priest . . . and neither the English nor the Irish people want such things to happen. All the same they do them.” That bitter summary of the position by an Irish working man was given when the “Black and Tan” troops were “giving as good as they got” in the shape of murder and punishment of the innocent as well as the guilty. The speaker was to live long enough to see the truth of his forecast that when peace had been made with England the Irish would be fighting among themselves. Tire book ends in that dreadful period when the Treaty with England was challenged by those who desired Ireland to become a republic, although it closes with a note of hope that the children of the Free State may bring better days to pass when they grow up. Although there is much tragedy in this book there is love and laughter as well. It is not a book to be read for mere amusement, but for those who care to study the background of the present day problems it will hold a great appeal. For if it shows some of the weakness of the Irish race it shows also their gay courage and individual attractiveness.