The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-25

land of St. Georges church. New York, and others
 Mr. Van Zille's book deals with the lead ing events of the European war and the significance those events hold for Amer lea. His is calm, scholarly, extremely readable presentation of an unprecedent- ed international situation menacing, in the authors opinion, to the ultimate welfare Of this country. It Is timely and pow erful presentation of the causes, leading events and probable results of the war of wars from an American point of view
 T am heartily glad.~ writes. ex-President Roosevelt to the author, that you are writing on the subject of the need that the United States should prepare against war. The United States will be as impotent as China on the side of peace if she permits herself to sink into the same condition of helplessness.'
 MT. Van Zile's scholarly and brilliantly written volume deals with various phases of the great European conflict that vital ly affects, this country, many of which have not heretofore been presented in the pages of a book. The titles of sev- eral chapters taken at random illustrate the wide philosophic scope of the work "Germany's God and Japan's," "Corsica versus Galilee." Christianity at the Bar" ''The Only Hope for Peace" "The Im- morality of Weakness, "Isolation and Its Perils," "The Peace That Never Was etc.
 In concluding his foreword, the author says: 'If the roots of the present con- hfct are too numerous and remote to be traced to their final origins. if, as is apparent, the ultimate outcome of the greatest of all wars cannot be- in all it's bearings forecast. it still remains possible to clarify the chaotic welter of recent events in Europe by a process of elimi- nation that brings into view, to American eOes at least, something approaching Q desirable historic perspective. If in the effort to obtain this perspective we come upon revelations that, in their cumula- tive force, seem to be of grim signifl- canoe to the people of the United States the following pages will justify them selves to even the indifferent or the too optimistic American"
 Poise, insight, comprehensive reading enthusiasm for American ideals, combine with keen humor and satiric touch to make MT. Van Ziles book not only i'm mediately readable but promise for 1t permanent and high place among the many volumes produced by the war of wars A critic who has read "The Game of Empires" says that 1t should be to America what the late Professor Crambs book Is to Great Britain.
 PLAYS OF THE PIONEERS" By Constance Darcy Mackay. Harper
 Bros., Publishers, New York.
 or late years there has been marked revival of the festival spirit To under stand how genuine and spontaneous and healthy this revival really is, one has only to read the collection of plays called Plays of the Pioneers,' of which Con- stance Darcy Maclxay is the author. To read them. indeed is to realize that they are eminently playable and emil nently worth playing. The plays are de- signed for simple and broad effects; they are thus comparatively easy to produce, for they require no such professional skill on the part Of amateur players as does the more elaborate indoor play that de- bends for its success upon the develop ment of sweeping dramatic climax. No very strenuous rehearsing is needed; the scenery may be far. more pleasing to the eye than are the pasteboard effects Of the conventional amateur stage; there is plenty of opportunity, too, for simple, colorful costumes and dances. All these obvious advantages have tended to make the pageant form of entertainment pop ular in normal schools and teachers training schools, in colleges, in village and city dramatic clubs and in high schools. What strikes one most. how ever. in reading the plays contained in the volume under consideration is that, despite their simplicity, or in part per- haps because of it, they have true and vital literary quality.
 All tke plays in the volume have been actually performed as single episodes In pageants written and staged by the author. Little change, however, was necessary in order to suit all parts of the ountry. They deal" writes the au- thor, through history and symbol with varying aspects of the pioneer spirit north, south east west, whose totalfty of effort has resulted in the making of America" The play called "The Pioneers" for instance forms the lyric interlude in the pageant of pio- neers produced in the Dakotas and oth- CT western states-a pageant not of a given place, but of a movement, and hence containing episodes adaptable to any locality that has pioneer tradi- tons Other titles are, "The Fountain