Evening star., 1937-04-03

From Ed1Din Edrle's 1Oood cut
ture armed conflicts between the na =
tionS.
His book Is not an account Of the
authors personal adventures in the
World War, as have been 50 many Of
these recent volumes of correspond
ents' memoirs. 1t is first Col. Palmer's
Interpretation OF the whole movement
Of America toward war, the interests
involved, the passions, the idealism,
the gallant madness" In short. After
that it is the story OF our troops in
France, and the part they bore in the
actual struggle.
Unlike many writer's Col. Palmer has
not reformed his ideas Of his Nations
behavior since the excitement of con-
f1ict died down. He has not come to
the conclusion that we went into war
solely to protect our markets, or solely
to accommodate the private makers Of
armaments, or solely to insure our
foreign loans or, for that matter, solely
for idealism. It was combination Of
reasons which brought us in, he
says, and he Is not ashamed to point
out with personal emotion, that, no
matter what brings q people into a
fight, it is the individuals who are not
concerned with the reasons who pay
the price Nothing, he asseverates, is
worth what has to be paid, once war
is declared.
Writing with lashing pen, he
warns us against another combination
of forces which may sweep us into the
next world combat. He sees war. as
do most Of the veteran correspondents
who have recently written on current
affairs, as something to be expected
at any moment. But, If We make = se-
we're embargo on war materials and
give up our trade In neutral waters,
he thinks We may avoid being drawn
into European struggle from without.
The greater danger, as he sees 1t, Is
that we may move toward our de-
struction Of ourselves. His whole book
is a TRADE of warning against that
eventuality.
EARLIER LETTERS OF GERTRUDE
BELL OF ARABIA. Edited by Elsa
Richmond. New York: Lveright
Corp.
THE first volume of the letters Of
Gertrude Bell came out in 1927.
and revealed to the general public for
the first time the personality Of this
extraordinary Englishwoman, whose
knowledge OF Arabia is said to rival
Charles Doughty's or Col. Lawrence's,
and whose achievements as explorer.
mountain climber and arechologist
rank with those OF the foremost in
those fields.
The present volume, however, Is
something Of disappointment. It
deals with the youth Of Miss Bell, the
flrst letters being written when she
was 8 and the last when she was "a.
All that they reveal to the reader of a
woman destined to be known as one
Of the rare individuals Of her time Is
q vivid mind But this mind is shown
only in relation to rather ordinary
preoccupations-the usual preoccupa-
tions Of young girl at school--studies,
calls on friends, visits to art galleries,
vacations spent in fishing and garden
ing and such casual matters. Miss
Bell, in the period covered by this VOL
ume, clearly had not conceived OF her
future career, or developed the in
terests which led her to it.
The value Of the present collection,
therefore, Is purely incidental The
last two chapters, to be sure, are writ
ten from Persia, whittier she went
with relatives after completing her
work at Oxford. In these latter letters
she does reveal keen interest in the
East, but hardly an interest of 4
quality to indicate her future activi-
ties. The collection can only be COM
mended to those who have an interest
in all phases of her life.
THE PARADOXES OF MIR. POND.
BY G. K. Chesterton. New York:
Dodd Mead & Co.
THIS Is . collection OF detective
stories, in which the sleuth Is
Mr.. Pond. They are typical Chester
tonian stuff, but not in his most bril-
liant vein. Eight tales are included in
the volume, none Of which Is enough
better than the others to be mentioned
specially. The situations seem forced
and the familiar "deductive" solutions
unconvincing. It Is to be feared that
the volume will add little to its au-
thor's glory-but that is generally the
case with posthumous volumes. One
does not need to say, Of course, that
there are passages worth reading in
the book. After all, Chesterton
wrote 1t.
MANHATTAN SOLO. Marjorie Worth
ington. Alfred A. Knopf. New
York.
THE story Of . woman who got what
she wanted, and then wasn't quite
sure she wanted 1t. An interesting tale
Of Z so-called career woman who en-
ters upon her career from necessity
rather than choice. After the first
driving need Of satisfying the land
lord and the butcher, q second force,
ambition, becomes the motive power
Of her life, which changes her from
warm, human person into an egotistic
celebrity. 20 wrapped In her career that
shs oannot spend Me necessary time