Evening star., 1934-04-22
0Y SARAH BOWERMAN

too intense a purpose In lie, yet making
deep and happy impression on his age 1t is
a pleasure to renew acquaintance with him
through Mr. Pearson's medium.
BERTRAND OF BRITTANY. Biography OF
Messire du Guesclin. BY Roger Vercel- New
Haven. Yale University Press.
WEARS ago this reviewer first made the
acquaintance Of Bertrand du Guesclin
through a small green book (colors of bindings
make a great impression in childhood, THE
Hero of Brittany" by Emile de Bonnechose.
translated by Margaret S. Jeune. He seemed
then a glamorouS knight Of medieval romance
and seems just as glamorous now. with the
added pathos which comes from the knowledge
that he was the last of the knights of the real
age of chivalry and that with his passing
chivalry declined into the merely formal
knightly practice which merged into the Renais-
sance Bertrand du Guesclin, born In 1920. was
the son of "a beautiful blond Norman mother
and a thick-set Breton father" Of an ancient
and noble family whose manor was near
Rennes. in the heart of Brittany. Except for
his services to his King, Bertrand du Guesclin
would have been remembered no more than
many other knights who devoted themselves to
the ideals of knighthood in France Of the
fourteenth century.
1t was the period Of the Hundred Years
III was King of England and claimed the crown
of France through the descent Of his mother
from Philip w. The English invaded France
several times. John the Good succeeded Philip
vi and his careless goodness was not what was
needed to restore the power Of France. The
country 'relapsed into feudal anarchy" and it
was blessing when John the Good died and
was followed by Charles v. who resumed the
conflict with England and appointed Bertrand
lyl C,1oc lin, xuhn hod inn, in
petty wars in Brittany and was already con-
stable of CASTLE, as constable Of France. Du
Guesclin brought the second period Of the
Hundred Years War to a conclusion favorable
for France and year after his death the
English had been driven from French soil. The
whole variegated fourteenth century is spread
before us in Roger Vercel's biography. which is
really good, rousing adventure story. Two
former books by Mr. Vercel have been crowned
by the French Academy, and his latest novel
is the choice of the American Femna Com
mittee the best French book of the year.
Bertrand Of Brittany is to be used in the
medieval history course at Yale next year.
Instructors will not have to drive unwilling
students to its fascinating and beautifully
printed pages.
YEARS EMBASSY TO MUSTAFA KEMAL.
BY Charles H. Sheriff.. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons.
ZEN SHERRILL, United States Ambassador
~ to Turkey, 1928, is a student of both
history and art. In history dctators interest
him; he is the author Of Bismarck and Mus
solni" In art he has specialized in the study
of stained glass and mosaics and is the author
of "Mosaics," Stained Glass Tours in Spain
and Flanders" Stained Glass Tours in Eng
and" and similar books for number Of other
countries. In the preparation of this study Of
Gaz Mustafa Kemal he has had unusual op-
portunities. OF numerous interviews with the
Gazi, the shortest was two hours long and the
red and blue diagrams in the book illustrating
battles against the Greeks are from drawings
by Mustafa Kemal himself One drawing and
its explanation of especial interest. It shows
why the Turkish capital was moved inland.
from Constantinople to Ankara. It represents
an interview between the former Sultan and
Mustafa Kemal in May, 1919. The Sultan.
indicated by q red S, is seated at one end Of
a square blue room. while Mustafa Kemal,
moi" in blue, is seated opposite. red arrow
from the Sultan goes through a window to q
line of blue-sketched battleships of the allied
fleet; a red arrow from Mustafa Kemal goes
through an opposite window toward the interior
Of the country.
Mustafa Kemal is studied by Gen. Sheriff.
in his origins and in his spectacular but not
rapid rise to importance and power, and after
ward as ''liberator, regenerator, national hero
and worlds statesman" An interesting fact to
which attention is called is that "Mustafa
Kemal, Franklin Roosevelt and Mussolini are
about of foan age born 1881, 1882 and 1885, re-
spectively." From abundance of knowledge,
Gen. Sheriff. also sketches the background.
geographical historical, political. from which
Mustafa Kemal arose, and follows this by an
account Of very modern Turkish problems dur
ing and since the World War; Comparisons en-
rich his narrative, such as "Mustafa Kemal and
George washington" and "Mustafa Kemal and
Henry VIII. Divorcing Church From State"