Evening star., 1933-11-19
RABBLE IN ARMS. BY Kenneth Roberts
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran g. Co.

early American historical novel, such
as Coopers Spy" with its linguistic
stiltedness, its objective narrative,
and its orthodox view of history and
this dramatic, interpretive, tumul-
tuous narrative with its modern interpreta-
tions by Kenneth Roberts. In his former novel,
Arundel" which is cast in the form of 'recol-
lections Of Steven Mason of Arundel, in the
Province of Maine, attached to the secret
pedition led by Col Benedict Arnold against
Quebec" Kenneth Roberts who is himself
native of the Maine town from which two of
his ancestors departed captains in the
Continental Army, wrote novel of the Ameri-
can Revolution which is worthy of a place
among the best of all historical novels of ad-
venture. "Rabble in Arms" is both an inde-
pendent narrative and a continuation OF
Arundel" In it we again meet Steven Mason
and his wife, Phoebe; Cap Huff and the beau
tiful Marie de Sabrevois, and again Benedict
Arnold is the hero.
The chief fictional characters of "Rabbe in
Arms" the brothers Peter and Nathaniel
Merrill, sons Of ship owner of Arundel
When the story opens they are in London,
where they have arrived in March of 1776 from
a voyage to South America and have found
letter from their father announcing that fight
ing has broken out in the American Colonies
and ordering them to sell the ship and cargo
and bring back the specie as soon as possible.
In London they meet Marie de Sabrevois,
daughter of a Canadian French fur trader and
herself secret agent of the British in America
To her fascinations Nathaniel falls victim
the more easily because he has what his brother
thinks "sickening plausible convictions
that the British would win, and that the sooner
we ended the war. defeated, the better"
Peter himself is stanch patriot He it is
who tells the story, as Steven Mason tells it
in Arundel" At the beginning he warns
(and this is modern note more plausible as
the idea of MIR. Roberts than as that of simple
sea captain like Peter Merrill) that this is no
story for those who believe all Americans
brave, all men in public Office honest and dis
interested all soldiers patriots, or that virtue
always triumphs and courage and ability all
ways bring recognition. The honest conviction
OF Nathaniel that it would be better for the
Colonies that England should quickly win the
war involves Peter in many difficulties and
dangers. His adventures daring and finely
motivated. Throughout the tale Surges the
American rabble. which is the Continental
Army-hghting and refusing to fight, brave
and cowaroly, advancing and retreating, self
sacrificing and grumblng. stealing and desert
ing, but also freezing, starving and dying Of
disease during seemingly hopeless campaigns.
Four great military events the centers of
action IN this section of the Revolutionary
story-the retreat of the Americans from
Canada the battle Of Valcour Island the flight
before Burgoyne from Ticonderoga and the
battle OF Saratoga. At the end Peter Merrill
expresses in eulogy his devotion to Benedict
Arnold, to whom he attributes noble motive
for the action which was destined to stamp him
a traitor, namely, his fear of the domination
of France should the Colonies win freedom
from Great Britain. If he sought to give
everything to England until we had regained
our strength, it was done to fight a greater
threat than England"
THE GREAT OFFENSIVE. BY Maurice Hindus.
New York: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas
A Ar. HINDUs is in process of writing a library
entirely about Soviet Russia. His "Hu-
manity Uprooted." Red Bread" Broken
Earth" and now 1.-THE Great Offensive" discuss,
respectively, the revolution itself, the Soviet
farm plan, and the Soviet industrial plan To-
gether they describe most of the phases OF
RussiaS great Communist experiment. 1.-THE
Great Offensive" has been published close upon
the official completion of the first Five Year
Plan and Immediately after Mr. Hindus' last
visit TO Russia As writer Russia, Mr..
Hindus has gained a reputation for several
things: General fairness or ability to see the
validity of arguments for and against different
Soviet courses; first-hand information, gained
on the spot, by himself, and not via inter-
prefers; and the power of dramatic narration,
WtuCli uloAcc IT'D DOOkS tAJItfilely TcduaDle 1Ut
clue TO "The Great Offensive" is machinery;
the protagonist OF the story is the city dweller,
the industrial worker. But the villagers the
peasants on the community farms the suppliers
Of food can never be omitted from any picture
Of modern Russia, and Mr.. Hindus devotes two
chapters to his most recent information about
them and their satisfactions and dissatisfac-
tions. AS in his previous books, he describes
and quotes from conversations with many
peasants while he was staying in their villages.
One Of the significant movements noticed by
Mr.. Hindns on this visit was that of the
peasants away from the farms, to the cities and
factories for the reason that workers were