Evening star., 1933-09-24
@ SARAH @. G.BOWERMAN
Autumn Books Covering Wide Range, From
Study Of Suicide to Sailing Million
Miles,

THE KAISER GOES: THE 0KNERALs RE
MAIN BY Theodor Plivier. Translsted
from the Gerpan by A. W. Whssn. New
York: The Macmillan Co.
"A DvANCINd. attacking. retreatins, those
y things are done By sections, piatoons.
companies. Dying Is for each man alone" 80
reflects Gunner MAX Muller ~ he looks out
from his crater and sees three squadrons Of
tanks ploughng their way over No Mans Land
It Is the last reflection he ever makes, for in
another moment while he feebly raises hand
to ward It Oh, the frst tank gldes down into
the crater-three to four tons ironing out
Gunner Muller. Then. with the other tanks, it
plunges on after the retreattng German front.
The Hindenburg line has been broken and all
the other German lines with 1t. The war is
about to end. The German military machine
has collapsed. except at general stan headquar-
tiers. Ludendorn still begs for another 600 600
men, Then the Kaiser fees from Berlin to
general headquarters. Statesmen are urging
each other to urge the Kaiser to abdicate and
save the Reich from Communism, and some
Of the more courageous are undertaking the
distasteful task. But the Kaiser Is stubborn,
obdurate, blind to the real condition of the
army and the growing rebellion Of the people.
Finally he goes. and the Socialist Republic is
established. The generals offer to the new
government the protection Of the army, and
The offer is accepted and The Kaiser Goes
the Generals Remain"
Though it is in fiction form. Mr.. Piiyier's
book might we'll be read as history. He attests
the authenticity both of the scenes he describes
and Of the conversations Of statesmen and
generals which he introduces into the Nara
tive With q mere thread Of story he has, he
says, attempted to give a comprehensive sur
vey Of those weeks Tin the Autumn Of 1919
during which the foundations were laid for
Germanys existence after the war" As in his
former book. The Ksiser's Coolies" he has
aimed to preserve strict historic truth" Those
weeks just preceding and following the armi-
stice were . time Of panic and collapse. Defeat
for the army and growing fury among the men
and women At home over the suffeTines i'm
posed upon them were aiding the propaganda
Of proletariat agitators, ike Iiebknecht, who
were hoping to float the red nag over Berlin.
Revolt and disorders were spreading through
the factories the slums, along the streets,
among the emaciated women and old men.
standing in the food queues. At Kiel there
was mutiny among the stokers. who put out
the fires when the order was issued for attack
on the English fleet. Revolution was mornen-
tarily impending when Ebert, the Socialist, won
in the conflict with the Communists by calling
on the Omcers' Corps to handle the masses.
There are many powerful scenes In the book.
most Of them meant to be typical Of general
situations. The concrete is always more i'm
presxve than the abstract. Such . scene IS
the one already indicated, Of the death of
Gunner Muller In his crater Another is the
scene In the squalid room Of Truda Muller,
Gunner Mullers wife, at "Boxhagenerstrasse g.
Centre Block, Third Floor," Berlin, where, at
about the time Of her husands death she sits
sewing army great coats at eight-pence, half
penny apiece. She has just taken her 5-year-
old boy to a hospital. where the doctor has
diagnosed his case as 'inf1uen2a-vith inf1am-
nation of the lungs" The workman Lange,
her neighbor, who has helped her with the
boy, mutters: Consumption they don't
want to admit it. The kids are going down
to it like flies" The next day Truda receives
word that the child is dead. The mutiny at
Kiel IS described with graphic detail. The
Konig Albert which has put out to sea, is
seen by the stokers who are getting up steam
on the Grosser Kurfurst In Schillig Roads, to
be suddenly drifting "broadside in the waves
out of control" A signal comes then Morse
message. Sabotage, mutiny Of the stokers, and
the sailors. too. The long-suppressed infec-
ton has broken out, the epidemic spreads. The
stokers of the Grosser Kurfurst draw their
fires, instead of making steam, as ordered.
Those of the Kronprinz and the Mark
graf follow their example. The officers
shout orders, which are not obeyed One
of them shrieks: Are you mad, you
scoundrels? Do you realize what you're do
ing? This is mutiny in the face of the
enemy!" But loud catcalls the
swer," and soon every fire on the four ships
of the lightning division of the third squadron
is out For those ships the war is over. Mr..
Plivier, perhaps because his powers of vigorous
historical narrative are feared, has been obliged
to leave Germany since the Nazi dictatorship.
PAT OF SILVER BUSH BY L. NJ Montgom-
cry. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.
IA NNE OF GREEN GABLES" by L. M.
u Montgomery, was general facorite
with the younger and older readers and it Is
probable that pat" will be equally liked She
is at any rate very appealing young girl,