Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-15
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
CORTES, THE CONQUEROR. Henry
Dwight Sedgwick. The Bobbs-
Merrill Co.


Dwight Sedgwick. The Bobbs-
Merrill Co.
Here is O. biographer who. in effect,
triumphantiy proves himself able to
rub out the 400 years lying in between
his man and his readers. Able, more
over, to deliver the man as a living
part of today. Such striking and I'M
usual issue is, at bottom. produced by
the authors firm and understanding
seizure of that common human nature
upon which the passage of time APP
pears to work no appreciable change.
The SteadfaSt human heritage or de-
sire, passion, ambition and striving
serves here to translate this man of
that long past into terms of the pres
ent, making of him cotemporary who
in spirit marches forward with more
than one of our own leaders in a time
that holds out high promises of re-
ward, much as the Weakened sixteenth
century fired the imagination and in
spired the daring of this earliest and
greatest of the gentlemen Adventures
in the New World" 1t is this effect
of vivid and shared immediacy that
stands foremost among other impress
sive qualities of "Cortes, the Con-
queror."
Once inside this adventure-for,
though authentic history throughout,
1t Is, nevertheless, great adventure
dipped in the dyes of romance itself
once inside, you are sure to stay in
to the end. Along it's course there
is no single point Of emergence, for
each advance In this historic expedi-
ton merely adds the best of reasons
for staying by to have a part in 1t.
Oh. 1t Is a brave undertaking, packed
with perils. Here stretches wide,
strange land inhabited by hostile ma
tives, cruel In ways of torture and
torment. Jealously watchful of their
domain. Here in silent menace
broods an insidious and deadly eli
mate. Lack of food. lack of every
thing that means health and comfort,
adds to the mounting sum of dan
gers and exactions. In the midst of
this is Cortes with his little band of
Spaniards. There Is no going back.
The leader has looked for this. There
is no standing still. Dangers known
and unknown forbid such inactivity.
The end of 1t all. the end of the
great adventure, lies in the name that
history has given to it's leader. He
Is the "conqueror." And by way OF
this vivid story of Cortes in the New
the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Here
is history carried forward In the
Illuminating trail of a dominant and
successful commander Here is biog-
raphy serving as interpreter to the
history of events. And by no other
means is the past so clearly appre-
hended as by a competent ana sym
pathetic examination of its dominant
human factors. In this study 1t is
the character of Cortes that counts
chiefly. 1t is the personality OF the
man that bulks so conclusively in the
New World of that time. An absorb
ing story that might be only pic
turesuue adventure in the grand man.
ner. but that is, instead, record or
actual events in the sum or human
endeavor along the highways OF time
and. let us assume, the highways OF
progress as well.
Gaming out of the story, still I'M
dressed with it's effect of nearness ana
actuality. I recall the sheer simplicity
Of the whole. Strange to find In any
form of history such a clean-cut line
of action, so sparing OF non-essentlais'
40 coherent, so cumulative In proJec-
ton. SO single in effect. 1t might De
a novel. or a play, in such points as
these. That's very interesting. so l
loolx around to see what has produced
this. / find that this author, In ruD-
hing out those 400 years, erased also
the mountains of printed history tnat
had accumulated in this long stretcn
of time. All the repetitive matter
hearsay, rumor, fact embroidered Out
of any semblance to its original con-
int
ter than fable-those sheer dilutions
Of truth that are so familiar, these
had gone with the years. Nothing at
all left save q long corridor or per-
spectiye. dotted here and there with
mountain tops of human growth, TO
serve as means of fair conclusion or
sound Interpretation. And for his
sources of knowledge on this subject
of Cortes the author had gone away
back to Cortes himself-to official
documents, to letters, to reports made
on the ground, either by Cortes him.
self or by one or another of the Span
ish gentlemen within his train. 1t is
from these that this story grows, por-
traying the character of Cortes-mas-
terful, adroit, manager or men, SNAPPER
of circumstances. From these nrst-
hand contacts, too, come the pictures
WAYS of life, in their resistance to the
conouering white man. With the
actual contacts In hand and mind, the
author then makes use of the long
perspective lying in between then and
now as guidance for his infrequent
judgments, for adjustments required
to make any conclusion valid. Some
times the way one takes to reach an
end is as worth consideration as the
end itself is. This work Is a case
in point. Here is an exceptional piece
Of geographic work. Perhaps even
better than that, here Is a thrilling
and absorbing story-one, too, that
stands as an authentic chapter in the
coming Of the white man to the New
World.
THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR. George
Creel. The John Day Co.
The foremost effect of this study
ia sol,rced in the clear knowledge and
untiring industry of the author.
Here is a big volume that looks
crowded. and Is. With 1t Mr.. Creel
has gathered the full history of
Mexico and its people for the sake OF
explaining the Mexico Of the present.
That is the purpose OK the oooK-to
attempt to set before general readers
some reasonably founded answer to
the perplexing problem that is
Mexico's. Logically, Mr.. Creel draws
the ultimate conclusion that the con-
ditions and their Improvement lie
largely within the country itself.
Added to this. however, is the strong
urge that other countries, particu-
larly our own, give to this people
larger understanding, a warmer SYM