Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-08

in which 1t is held, and, now. Of its
sad but glorious sacrifice. The ais
tinction Of this little book II that 1t
is a personal record Of actual par par
and In one Of the bloodiest and most
important Of its moments. Among
the hundreds Of war books now at
hand this one stands with the very
few that deal at first hand with the
bitter actualities Of the war. rat snes
about It.
IN KULTURRD KAPTIVITY' Life and
Death In Gexnany's Prison Camps
a.A Hospitals. By Ivan ho Msrr;1;
Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill
Company.
This account begins with Mr.. Ros-
siter's capture in battle by the Ger
mans. It closes with his exchange
and return to England. Between these
two points is the story of his life In
eleven different prison camps and
hospitals in Germany. These eleven
different points come together In
perfect unity Of statement as to the
nature of these camps and hospitals,
in their common ingenuity Of inven-
ton to promote discomfort and SUI
fering. That which vouches for the
credibility of this account Is. pri-
marily. the attitude of the writer
himself. In spite of his own large
share in the general misery OF the SIT
rancor. Indeed. it is a matter OF
amazement that he is able to give SO
dispassionate an account OF his daily
privations and prosecutions at the
hands of his German jailers. 1t is a
this element more than any. other
stamps it as true in sum and in par
ticular. One Is impressed most here
with the smallness of the cruelties
visited upon these prisoners of war,
the contemplate hatefulness of the
Germans that are added to their open
and measurable prosecutions, One Is
interested In q very significant con-
clusion Of this writer and that is that
If he were ever able to overlook the
acts of the German men. of one thing
he was certain and that was that he
could not forgive the German women
for the unspeakably little ways In
which they added to the sufferings of
the prisoners. Any deed savoring in
any degree of human kindness gets
full credit here. but these deeds are
few and far between in this circum-
stantial account of the war prisons
and hospitals in Germany.
THE VILLAGE, Rry,sinn Impressions.
By Ernest Poole. author of '"The
11dIUOIp clC. ANCW 4oIh 1AC MAJ
milan Company.
In these Russian impressions Ernest
Poole applies the method of construc-
tive realism that gives distinction to
THE Harbor" and his other novels of
modern American life. The founda-
ton of these impressions is observa-
tion, and personal contact with the
Russian villagers From the estate
of friend, a Russian living in the
northern part of the country. this
gathered in huddles of huts, that pass
for the hamlet. or village. With these
he talks, and listens, and watches their
casual and usual intercourse with one
another. Here one gets pictures-pho-
art of all sorts of men-the doctor,
the school teacher, the storekeeper,
the priest and vagabonds of every
grade-of the full sum of Russian
peasant life. Out of these impressions
bulk Of this thing, its s' un SstSas
the formidable volume of its inertia.
Then, a clear idealism energies from
the mass. but an idealism that is I'M
conscious, as yet. Of any of the COM
mon modern means. or tools, for the
Densely ignorant and hopelessly be-
hind one would say. Yet, there are
flashing glimpses here of something
that contains the seed of a splendid
Towering in soma far away future.
Just now this book rs particularly
worth while since it draws off the
Russian peasant as he Is, leaving him
to interpret himself to the reader
without undue Interference on the
part Of the writer. Mr.. Poole makes
no attempt to involve this Russian
peasant in other politics or social life
or industrial interest than that which
Immediately surrounds him, and of
which he Is part. However, one pro-
1ects this peasant instinctively, into
The confused complex of Russian ma
tionality, losing him completely in
this many-sidcd chaos
TIE WOHLD'S DEDATE: An H,stori-
cal Defense of the Allies. By viii
Fam Barry, author of 'The New
Antigone: The International and
Russia, etc. New York: George
ID. Dorah Company.
From high eminence of ripe
s2hoi ship DR.. William Barry draws
Upon the essentials of history here