NEW BOOKS REVIEWED.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17614, 19 January 1929, Page 13 (Supplement)

NEW BOOKS REVIEWED.

CURRENT LITERATURE. “The Life or Alcibiades.”-, By E. F. Benson. It is very strange that there has hitherto existed no English biography of Alcibiades. For his was a career that, for its sheer personal romance and tragedy, has a greater inherent fascination than that of any other historic character, with the possible exception of Napoleon Bonaparte. Alcibiades is one of the great lovers. Not that any woman, even Que_en Timaea, ever played more than the part of a toy in his life. But he loved Athens with a love passing the love of women, with that kind of passion that “kills the thing it loves.” From his youth up lie was the darling of his native city. He planned for her a dream-empire that would have forestalled that of Rome: but at the outset of the great enterprise that was to realise the dream his enemies dragged him down. Condemned without trial by the fickle, beloved city for an offence of which he was probably innocent, Alcibiades, like many another jilted lover before and since, put hate in the place of love. He joined the enemies of his country and became the directing genius of Sparer war. In a few years he brought Athens to her knees —and then repented and tried to repair the damage he had done. So came that dazzling campaign in the Hellespont, when Alcibiades, the lovers' quarrel ended, yet would not return to his violet-crowned lady ti.U' he could bring the trophies of fiet foes to lay at her feet. And then comes the. real tragedy. For at the first touch of misfortune to his hitherto invincible arms the oity disowned him once again, and he was forced to watch from his castle walls the final disaster (which his advice would have prevented) that laid the Athenian Empire in ruins for ever. ** We cannot see again the smile and hear the laughter that won the adoration of the people he ruined and could not quite save, any more than we can catch the gleam of gold from Athene's spear-head above the purple of Hymettus. But Mr Benson has brought to the study of his hero a sympathy that, by refusing to judge him by the standards of a later age, makes us see as much of the man as can survive his corporal dissolution. This description of the home-coming of Alcibiades after the Hellespont campaign must be very near the truth: “From end to end the quay was a blur of massed faces and eager eyes, and all were turned to him, like a bed of flowers to the sun. His ship had been seen while yet far off, and the whole of Athens had trooped down to the harbour on the news of it. Ever since it was known that he was on'his way home the city had buzzed with his name; there had been no topic except Alcibiades. . . .

The ship that bore him had come to her moorings; Chrysogenus’s flute was silent and the great actor called no more on the rowers, and still that lonely and splendid figure remained motionless on deck, while the buzz of talk ceased, and the huge crowd grew mute and tense.. The years of hatred and exile were over; he was home again with his gift of Empire restored to Athens, but at this supreme hour the memory of the ruinous strokes he had dealt her surged round him and he was afraid. And then he raised his eyes and saw the familiar faces of friends and relations, and the smile leaped to his mouth and he stretched out his hands to i'nem. At that the roar of welcome broke out and all the quays were laughing and sobbing together because Alcibiades had come home.

Michale Arlen’s Real Name. Few people know the real name of Mr Michael Arlen, author of “The Green Hat,” “Those Charming People,” etc. It is Dikran Kouyoumdjian. Mr Arlen is by bitrth Armenian, a fact of which he has frequently said that he is proud. In appearance he is a shorter edition of Adolphe Monjou. Incidentally, he introduced the backless white waistcoat Into America.

“The British Campaigns In Europe, 1914-1918.” By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This new edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s well-known work is an exceedingly valuable and remarkably cheap book. Within a moderate compass it gives a vigorously written account ofThe British Army’s operations in Europe during the great war. .It does not include naval operations or‘the campaigns in Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Africa, but that was scarcely possible without swelling the volume to unwieldly proportions. The author has revised the original text of his six volumes. They remain one of the best contemporary accounts of operations, and they are. the work of a writer whose name is a household word. In the new form his history should long remain a military classic, and should find a place in every library. Tested in various points, it has been brought well up to date, though it does not —doubtless from lack of space—deal with such episodes as Colonel Hentsch’s mission at the Marne or General Huguet’s recent criticisms of Lord French's proceedings in that battle.

“Unmarried Life.” By John North. “Since the first thing this morning," says Charles Maybrook, the hero of this book, to ids female secretary, “I’ve done nothing but carry on acrimonious conversations with women, and I can assure you that I hold the whole of your sex in horror and detestation." _ , The conversations will be found very entertaining to the reader, whatever they may have been to the participants, for Mr North has a pretty wit. He also possesses the faculty of intricate manoeuvre in a small space. His whole action takes place in 24 hours, hut it is all quite complete and self-contained. The precision with which practically the whole cast is transferred from London, where the morning scenes take place, to a cottage where the catastrophe occurs suggests a natural talent for the dramatic form of composition.