The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-03

triumph. The first part of The Thur derbolt is light satiric comedy in the best tradition of the Jane Austen model Mrs. Bonham Is the altar O.
 Stottleham society, not becauce she i~ richer or abler or finer or more truth ful than her descreet worshipers, bu because she embodies the narrow, com placent. possessive security of Stottle ham from the rest of the world.' 1t would not be fair to the reader to give even a bare outline of the story You will meet people in this book
 whose acquaintance you will be glad
 to make. Mrs. Bonham's daughter Dorrie, is one of the sweetest speei-
 mems of girlhood. in English literature,
 and she and the mother, and the nurse
 Hannah, make up trio as remarkable
 as any of the outstanding characters i! in Dickens. Thackeray and Jane Aus i ten.
 | AMERICAN WORLD POLICIES" By David Jayne Hill. George h. Doran l Company, Publishers, New York City. ! One of the grea,est issues in the has,
 tory of the United States Is now before
 the peopie of this co4ulry through the
 treaty. The aebate has been long and in-
 voil eo, the struggte bitter, the essentials
 often clouued. , W hat is the wise course, the sure
 
 | What has the Senate really fought
 for and why?
 | Is there a way out?
 1 David payne Hill discusses the whole question ana makes ali admirably cle~r and convincing statement of the pron- lem before us. Without the slightest ma- 1 lice or bitterness he shows the disillu- sonment aoout- the league, the erouhus
 for the hostll4ty which oiocked concer,cd l Loo ho arf nf a President autl
 Senate, and the choice which mast> De
 made between the leagd de and the constr tuition. An appendix slves the important documents i'll the case.
 | No man today is better qualified to | talk on word policies and national ar
 fairs than David Jayne Hill. lie was assistant secretary of state under JoDn Hay during the administrations or Me- l Klnley ana Roosevelt, was munster to Switzerland and Holland, delegate to the great Hague peace conferences and an- | hassador o Germany, which he ieft iii 1 1911 when he saw it was mpossipie U prevent the Kaiser from bringing on the
 great war. Has studied eNeenslVey VI all the countries of Europe when at wofk
 on his magnum opus, "A History o' Diplomacy in the International Develop ment of Europe.'' Also author of 'Wcf'd 1 Organization as Affected by the Nature
 of the Modern S.ate,T The Rebuilding or l E,urope' "The Peoples Government and l sImpressions the Kaiser Very pop l ular contributor to the North American Review on international affairs. lie nds the distinction of having been the youhS est president of an American college. Hs was only twenty ty-nine when he pecan'e president of Bucknell University 1.-THE LIGHT OF THE EAST By S. R.. Crockett. George H. Doran Company, Publishers, New York city. ..The Light Out of the East by $. k Crockett is the haunting and very beau tiful story of the gentiest or men 1 figure of infinite compassion, who dreams | a dream of world perfection and mahes ! it actually come true The book is some thing of a modern Utopia, creating out 1 of the chaos of modern conditions a per ! feet world. Brother Christopher, the White Pope" comes out or the Edsl' armed only with the belief that Tn every man. there is little of the divine. By | his genteness and the beauty ana the strength of his character he wlns ao- Iherents on every side. generals, states men. kings and beggars, men and women l whose devotion does not falter Iii tne ! face of danger, and who for his sake conquer the world and set up at last 1 the parliament of the perfect state. l The book is powerfully convincing ana ! sweeps the reader along with mountins 1 crescendo of action and passion Una leaves him little breathless Ine cehtin n' | character portrayed by one Of his TOT lowers. is exquisitely drawn, with re- 1 stra int and charm. The book has no re- Iligious connection, Catholic or otherwisei 1 but carries a message that is religious III l the broadest and finest sense. Writlen before the war, it is an almost propheeie vision of the spiritual needs and desires ! of the present, after-the-War day. Asnus from this. looked upon simply as tic- tion if is a good story. quicK-mov'ng l well-handled. the atmosphere of mystic almost miraculous happenings admiraply maintained. .x. 1 "The Light Out of the East" is the 1 posthumous work of s. R. Crockett, one ! of the famous story tellers of our times 1 His romances have been celebrated III Eneland and America. ',rhe Raiders,
 ..The Grey Man." The Stickit Minister.
 and others have gained him wide foi- | lowing as an author of rousing good flc- | ton. '"The Light Out of the East IS the
 most moving thing he has done. anu
 leaves one with a keen re@ret that we
 shall not have further work from hs
 pen.
 QUEEN LUCIA"
 By D. F. Benson. George Ii. Doran
 Company. Publishers, New York City Tn "Oueen Lucia," Mr. Benson once more stages the comedy of life as played in an English village. with that delicate i mingling of fun. pathos. humor and TO- nance that is his particular secret. ana l a pleasant irony that satirizes without ot- 1 fense. His story tells of the devastating
 results of the torch of culture as II IS !! carried by "Queen Lucia that deter mined and most amusing lady who under ! took to play the part or modern Loren l 70 de Medici in the cultural awakening ! os Riseholme Mystic Hindus and spir- , itualistic Russian princesses. and oiga ! Rracely. prima donna, have to do with l this awakening which does not oeverop ! on quite the lines intended by Queen Lucia" This is one of MT. Benson I most charming stories, and although the ! scene is laid in an English village, the 1 human nature is qulte as American as II
 is English, and the situation Is familiar to all dwellers in small towns
 . It is g. book to be welcomed py ar { Renson's many admirers. a book to take
 along on a summer vacation, book to
 make one forget ana this IS not sur
 nrIsing when one has read others from tbe nen of this author David Blaize and the Blue Door "An Autumn Sow ing,s Across the Stream" and Mi
 cheaL"
 J DEMOCRACY AND IDEALS
 By John Erskine Pofessor Of Ensiisn
 YT,;yarcifvl Georre Fl