Evening star., 1923-03-03
The Library Table
+. ny TIE BookIover

whea Afsterfes consisted chiefly OF
accounts of wars, with poiffcai
evehth secondary. The newer idea Of MS
tortcaL writing places greater emphasis
on the. intellectual social and eco
nomic factors OF. human progress. In
this; newer conception OF history SOL
/ fdiers and statesmen do not OCCUPY
,the entire stage,. but ample room is
also found for explorers, pioneers.
farmers. inventors. teachers. fnan-
ciers. labor leaders and women. An
American history written from this
viewpoint will ..be found in DR.. s, f.
Forman's "Our Republic, Brief His
tory or the American People" recent
| ly published. ~ -,
DR.. Forman's history of the. United
States is far removed from the. dry
as-dust skeleton outlines so. often
found in single-yolume histories. 1t
is unusually wen written, and Is espe-
cially we'll adapted for home reading
and to supplement the ordinary text
book. 1t is furnished with many. H.
lustrations, including cotemporary
cartoons and maps, and the narrative
Of each chapter is supplemented by
serviceable notes and a chronology
OF events not covered in the text.
The author gives. whole chapters to
the everyday life of the people,. their
occupations. religious affairs, educa-
tional advantages. including newspa-
pers. literature and libraries. and
their amusements. In. his preface DIR.
Forman states that the economic fac
| tor In the history of q nation. and
particularly Of the American nation,
is subject OF transcendent impor-
tance. His treatment of topics bear
ing on the economic development OF
the country is therefore, unusually
full. In view of the recent revival OF
, the ku klux klan, readers will be
especially interested in the authors
| treatment Of the 'carpet-bag" and
"scalawag" state governments OF the
Ku Klux Khan. The closing chapters
treat very recent history, particular
| ly the Roosevelt administration, the
progressive era and the great war
| and after. including the beginnings
| OF the Harding administration. So
| up-to-date is the history that II in
cludes sections on the Kansas court
of industrial relations and the Wash
ington conference on the limitation
| of armament.
The Booklover has had long ac-
Iquaintance with DR.. Forman, and
from many conversations knows his
! we'll informed mind and progressive
| spirit. This book Is written out of
with his liberal spirit.
| X y
! Robert Keable, who has risen so
rapidly to fame in fiction in the past
| three years. was both a brilliant stu
| dent and an athlete at Cambridge.
After brief clerical training he was
ordained as a clergyman and went to
| East Africa under the auspices OF
the Universities Mission. During the
! war he was a chaplain to the South
African native labor contingent. Just
before the writing Of his first novel.
Simon Called Peter" ne resigned his
Office and withdrew from the Church
of England. His three books all seem
| to be the result of personal expert
ence. "Simon Called Peter has for
| its central figure an army chaplain
! during the war; THE Mother of All
| Living" is a story OF missionary and
pioneer life in East Africa, and Per
| adventure" Is evidently a ffctional
rendering OF his own spiritual jour
ney from orthodox clericalism TO
| happy paganism.
| During his many years in Wash
| ington as British ambassador Wis
! count Bryce made many friends and
admirers, all of whom will welcome
a posthumous volume of his travels.
called Memoirs of Travel" The
journeys described in the volume in
clude only few of the ANY under
| taken by Lord Bryce during his long
! life. The chapters cover Iceland, the
mountains OF Poland and Hungary,
Suvaroffs Alpine campaign. Palestine,
! the isles of the southern Pacific, the
scenery OF North America and the AL
| tai mountains. By far the most in
! teresting chapter is that on Iceland.
/ which was visited in 1872 In company
with two Oxford friends. Much OF
Iceland rarely seen by tourists was
covered en- route across the central
! desert to catch mail steamer. Ice
! land is, according to Bryce, land of
negatives. Among the things which
IL has not are towns. inns. roads, car
! riages, poultry Except wild Geese),
crops Except turnips and potatoes).
4; shops. manufactures, dissenters from
| established LutheranisIh, army, navy,
criminals and snakes.
The setting Of Joseph Herges-
heimers recent novel, "The Bright
Shawl" is Cuba under Spanish rule
lust preceding the Spanish american
war when every week boys-they
were no more for all their sounding
pronunciamentos were being MUIR
dered in the fosses OF Cabanas fort
ress" and everywhere limitless sys-
TEN of espionage was combating the
gathering of circles. tertulias, for
a bloody and intolerable tyranny"
"The Bright Shawl" is the vivid
shawl. or manton, of ''cruel. brill
.snfs snSy and orangs wsh and abneS 5nrnns OF
worn by the Andalusian dancer, La
Clavel, herself a plotter in the Cuban
cause and finally martyr to it. The
shawl is for the young American.
symbol of the bright future Of Cuba
Ia banner of Cuban independence.
II have the feeling" he says, that
il we lower this-this standard-it
will bring us bad luck, it will be dis
astrous" And when the manton is
degraded, when it is worn by a
Spanish spy, then tragedy comes with
a swift stroke.
This season has been unusually
rich in interesting biographies. in
artists, literary celebrities, person
ages prominent in national and in
! ternational politics. persons once
prominent, like the ex-kaiser. and
even ordinary men and women. One
tof the most absorbing of these biog-
iraphies is "The Life and Letters of
Walter Fl. Page" in two volumes. by
Burton ]. Hendrick. Two characters
StanQ out SHARPLY IN the DOOh-fdEe
himself and Woodrow Wilson. Fun
damentally, the ambassador and the
| President were at one in the belief
that the United States could not
stand aIoof from the European war.
but Page became very impatient Of
i,what he considered Wilson's slow
ness, and criticized him honestly and
forcibly in his correspondence. The
Eletters, personal and official. give new
flights on the war period and reveal
a most vigorous personality.