Evening star., 1933-02-25
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C. BOWERMAN.

Putncm's Sons.
At the almost juvenile age Of a.,
Bruce Lockhart was acting British
Consul General at Moscow. This was
In the Spring Of 1914. just in time for
the World War. Four years later he
! was appointed to head a British mis-
sion to Russia, whose object was to es-
tablish unofficial relations with the
| bolsheviki in an attempt to keep Rus
sia in the war on the side OF the allies
Hugh Walpole says of Lockhart that
when he frst knew him as vice consul
J at Moscow, "he looked like a first-term
undergraduate who might get his place
in the freshman's trials at Rugby foot
ball." and Lockhart says of himself:
Never at ary time have tried to be
! the complete master Of my own fate
The strongest impulse of the moment
has governed all my actions" But he
Is Scotch. descendant Of the Mac
Gregors. Bruces, Hamiltons, Cummings,
Wallaces and Douglases. His impulses
have led him into adventurous ways
Because he learned Russian, made
FRIENDS among the intelligentsia, kept
his eyes open, and learned a great deal
about what was simmering beneath the
artificially smooth surface OF Russian
life during the last months of Czardom,
! he became exactly the man whom Lloyd
George needed for the special mission.
| Under the Kerensky government.
Lockhart's Importance increased. as
many OF his Russian friends were in
the government, and he was writing
reports from Moscow to the British Am
basSador, Sir George Buchanan. at st.
Petersburg. His first meeting with
Kerensky was at luncheon in the
Kerensky apartment. when Breshkov-
skaia, the grandmother Of the Rus
sian Revolution" was also lunching
with Nine. Kerensky Kercnsky
himself is described as sallow and
deathly pale, with narrow, Mongolian
tired eyes; mouth firm but drawn as
If from pain, hair worn zen brosse. "
and manner giving an impression OF
energy. He was on strict diet and
drank nothing but milk Many other
meetings followed. and Lockhart gives
an epigrammatic estimate OF Kerensky
He was an honest, II not q great, man
sincere in spite Of his oratorical tai
ents. and, for a man who for four
months was worshiped as a god. CON-
paratively modest From the start he
|
drive back into the trenches nation
which had already finished with the
war" The departure Of Lockhart from
Moscow, In disgrace, took place in Sep
tember, 1917. He frankly admits the
cause Of the scandal which came to
the attention of the British Ambassador
and resulted first in kindly advice, thsn
In enforced sick leave" which waS
really a recall" When he left he was
certain that he would never return.
The finality was not as final as he
had anticipated. In three months after
his return to England. he vas sum-
moned to Downing Street, was flatter-
ingly asked by Lloyd George If he wa.
The MI. Lockhart." and in few day.
discovered that he was to return tc
Russia at once. The, intrigues and CON-
pucations OF Lockhart's narrative mul-
tiply from this point.
He came to know lenin and Trot.
sky well-to we'll to suit them, or fol
his own good. The allies landed troop!
at Archangel. 1900 men. British ON.
cials were not allowed to leave Mos
cow Then came a pistol shot anc
Uritsky, head Of the st. Petersburg
Cheka was murdered by Russian
Junker The next day two pistol shots
were fired at Lenin by q social revolu-
tionary Jewish girl, and Lenin lay al
the point Of death. BY devious proc.
esses of reasoning and considerable
revolutionary hysteria, Lockhart was
connected with these events, and was
awakened in his bed room soon after
Lenin's assassination. by 10 armed men
and carried of to the headquarters oi
the Moscow Cheka. For a month he
was imprisoned in the kremlin. Hi
I - HI ,ovNt
men al strain he 'iured. his sentries
his f,od. his attemp,~ - recreation, his
comr lunication with friends outside
all makes a tense climax to the whole
story. He was released and returned
to England. but his diplomatic career
was over. After his departure he was
tried and sentenced to death by the
bolshevist government. He is now Q
successful London columnist. Curios-
ity will make most readers wish that
he had told something Of his relations
with the British government after hi'
final return from Russia. British
agent" should certainly have some his
torical importance among war records
and as a vigorously written piece OF
autobiography it has literary value.
In his latest novel, "The Anxiou:
navs" New York: Doubleday. Dorar
& co.., Sir Philip Gibbs attempts tt
throw some light on certain phases oi
our troublous times today. He say,
that his object in this novel Is 'tl
dramatize and humani,n the history Of
the past few years anu 10 show how
this crisis affected private lives anc
moral character in England and thf
United States. revealing the lack Of
leadership among the politicians. the
tragic bewilderment of youth-and the
rally of the people to an appeal fol
self-saoriice and self-discipline wher
their country was on the edge of dis
aster." Sir Philips other novels
which have won q fair degree Of popu.
larity, include The Goloen Years" 8
witty Victorian romance, and "The Mid
die Of the Road" a story Of the in1me.
date effects Of the World War espe.
cially in England. In non-fiction, hi:
book Nov It Can Be Told" one OF q
rumber Of post-w1r revelations by au-
thors of experience In war journalism
and Adventures in Journalism" Is au-
tobiographical
Sponsored by the Japan Society oi
New York for its twenty-f1fth anniver-
sary, the book. Art, Life and Nature
in Japan" by Masaharu AnesaH based
on lectures given at the Fogg Museum
Harvard University, Is the work Of 8
critic competent to interpret japanese
life from the point of view Of Japa-
nese intellectual. Contrasts are drawn
between Japanese and Western paint
ing, decorative art and architecture
Lack of symmetry in japanese art is
attributed by Prof. Anesaki to the study
of nature, which produces its 'riotous
and wonderful effects without regard tC
symmetry. The style Of the book Is ex-
act, but not meticulous. simple, but rich
in vocabulary and figurative llustra-
tions.
| +
"Women Against Men" New York:
Alfred A. KnopD. by Storm Jameson
composed Of three novelties, gives q
triple demonstration of the eternal and
bitter truth Of sex antagonism. Prob
ably it is q truth; psychologists seem
to recognize 1t. Yet many people are