Evening star., 1936-03-07
By Mary.Carfer Roberts.

"HIS book purports to be his
tory of the present presidential
administration. 1t proceeds by
i the plan of relating the ad-
ministration's activities from the time
the President assumed Office down
until March 4, 1886 No reader, how
ever. could be so dull as to miss the
purpose; the book is a bitter and
merciless attack.
It is an attack the more dangerous
to those against whom it is aimed in
that the author, while using at times
the popular verbiage of the wise
cracker still generally produces facts
to sustain his claims. And some Of
these facts, even after all the pro-
ceeding works of the kind have been
read, are astonishing in the incon-
sistencies which they show. That,
chiefly, would seem to be Mr.. Young's
case-that the New Deal has under
taken to uproot the institutions to
which we are accustomed without
having assumed an understandable
and consistent stand itself.
He says, fo. example, "The god
Terminus had two faces :. The New
Deal has three faces. The first is
beneficent, intended for the forgotten
man. and all that the term connotes.
The second wears a deepening froWn
for all those in the high places.
frown that extends to the fixed order
in any form. The third face dis
tinctly is political, smiling as re-
quired."
Mr.. Young also takes an evident
pleasure in holding up the absurdities
Of administrative procedures In the
newly organized bureaus for ridicule.
He quotes, in this category, from q
"case report" on an applicant for ad-
mission to one of professors COM
munal villages. 1t read, he says, as
follows:
Mrs. F. has dark auburn hair,
brown eyes and milk white skin.
In spite OF such coveted features, she
Is not a very attractive looking woman,
due to a peculiar expression about the
eyes (the left one is crossed) and a
small growth high on the right cheek
bone and nose" Such quotations.,
which surely need no comment. are
used repeatedly through the book.
Summing up, Mr.. Young makes no
prophecies beyond comparing the
President with Mirabeau Who,, he said,
opened the way ito little Corsican-
FIRST and greatest of modern dicta-
tors" It will be plain from this,
however, that he suspects certain
drift.
Any book so bitter and so confined
TO attack must obviously be rated as,
per Sc, one-sided. However, 1t Is du-
bious that the public, if, it reads this
at all-and one feels that it will read
1t widely-will trouble itself over that.
Mr.. Young Is far too amusing.
THIS FLYING GAME. BY Brig Gen.
H. H. Arnold and Maj. Ira Eaker.,
New York: Funk g. Wagnalls Co.
THIS book, although by Army men,
- Is not by any means exclusively
concerned with military aviation, but
may be taken instead as hand book
of general information on most of the
current phases of flying. 1t opens
with brief history of mans attempts
at flight, goes on to the mechanics
of flight as exemplified in the air.
plane, describes military pilot train
ing, discusses Americas air power,
contrasts the requirements of COM
mercial and military ships, pays trib-
ute to the ground men and outlines
the trades and professions included
generally in the aviation industry. 1t
also contains chapter on the airship
and its history and probable future.
and to all this, a generous number OF
pictures, charts and diagrams and
graphic reality. A plainly written,
clear text this work ought to be OF
considerable use to the non-fying
citizen who takes an interest in the
most modern adventure.
RUSSIAN sOMERSAULT. BY Igor
Schwezoff. New York: Harper &
Bros.
THIS book is the prize winning au-
- photography in the contest re-
Gently held by the English firm Holder
e. Stoughton. It is the life story OF a
young Russian dancer and choreog-
rapher of European repute, at pres
ent head of ballet school in Amster-
DAM It is a rapidly-moving account
of adventures, artistic chiefly, in many
parts of the world, and among books
of its kind would seem to deserve the
place which has been awarded it, for
1t Is better written than most and not
unlit by humor and shrewdness. For
the rest, it Is that behind-the- scenes
life which theatrical personages
usually write, and which, undoubtedly,
has a compelling fascination for
large number of the spectator public.
TOGO AND THE RISE OF JAPA-
NEsE SEA POWER. BY Edwin A.
Falk. New York: Longmans
Green g. Co.
THIS is highly interesting biog-
- raphy of the great japanese ad-
lniral, told, to be sure, In terms of the
manner in which he Influenced the
upbuilding Of the japanese navy, but
not lacking in human Interpretation
either. The ordinary American reader,
taking up the book, will be surprised
to learn to what extensive uses that
navy has been put In past decades,
and to read how muclr actual fighting
there has been in the waters of the
East. The rugged, determined admiral
makes a good hero for such tale,
and the story becomes one which can
be commended both for its light on
contemporary affairs and for its in
trinsically interesting qualities.
THE BATTLE-GROUND SYRIA AND
PALESTINE. BY Hillaire Belloc.
Philadelphia: J. H. Lippincott Co.
THIS somewhat surprising book is
- q history of the wars that, from
earliest recorded time, have surged
back and forth across the little strip
of earth that Is known as the Holy