Evening star., 1937-05-01
WAR PRESIDENT AT HIS BEST
Word Picture of Wilson by Eleanor McAdoo Valuable Those
Who Would Look Back of Postwar Scenes-Works of
Fiction Which Have Limited Influence.

! the reader who gets shocked, and
much to amuse the one who, on the
other hand, gets amused. The book,
| therefore, Is not recommended. It is
merely mentioned as witty and able
satire for those who like works of that
character.
LONDON AFREsH. BY E. v. Lucas.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co.
THIS is Mr.. Lucas fourth book on
London, the others having been
"A Wanderer in London" which was
published in 1905; London Revisited"
1916, and "E. v. Lucas London" 1926.
To add this volume to three others,
therefore, is to have a good guide
book record OF the English capitals
changes over 30 years. For Ameri-
cans who are going to England this
year and who want an introduction
to London that is comprehensive but
| out OF the beaten track manner OF the
Baedeker, the work ought to be well
worth having. =. takes in all those
places which can be called sights"
it is up-to-date and 1t is pleasantly
written.
The Tower Guildhall, the city
churches, the Abbey, st. Pauls, the
museums, the galleries, the House of
Parliament, Covent Garden, the Lon
don docks, the East End-all these
and other spots Of fame are described.
The book is also attractively Illus
| trated, containing such little-publi-
cized material for example, as a map
Of the London Of Roman times. 1t
seems to be both useful and COM
pletely readable work.
PEOPLE IN CAGES. BY Helen Ash
ton. New York: The Macmillan
%.
THIS Is one Of those novels built
about an arbitrary mechanical
device. a device which sets limits of
| time and space on the activity of the
characters much as stage proportions
set limits to the possibilities of a play.
| Here it is the device of making the
people visit the London Zoo one
Spring afternoon; within the bounds
OF this place and this time, the fates
| OF the several men and women Of
the story are settled. The animals,
| looking down from their cages, are
supposed, one gathers, to do service
as an ironical comment on human
superiority.
The book is good enough for what
1t is.
CORONATION COMMENTARY. BY
Geoffrey Dennis. New York: Dodd
Mead g. Co.
SENSATION hunters who buy this
book expecting, on the strength
OF the Duke Of Windsor's threat of a
libel suit against its English pub
fishers, to find it containing hitherto
imprinted and salacious matter will be
disappointed. Likewise disappoint-
ment awaits the buyer who gets the
work In the hope of learning new
facts about the abdication of Edward
VIII. The book actually contains
little or nothing factual that has not
been amply publicized, and the matter
which, as one assumes, is the basis
of the libel charge is no more than
unpleasant speculation on the au-
thor's part, pointless and in thor
oughly bad taste.
Ihe distinguishing characteristic
OF the book indeed seems to be point
leSsness. One is driven to the con-
clusion that the author has simply
attempted to capitalize public inter-
est in the abdication for his own
profit His actual treatment of the
abdlcatlon runs to no more than a
few pages: the greater part of his
work Is taken up with dull disserta-
| tlons on the nature of the British
government, material one feels, that
is no more than padding to make
volume that is book size.
1t is on the whole worthless per-
formance, and one regets that the
author seems to have been assisted
IN his purpose to capitalize a closed
lncldent-on this side of the Atlantic,
at least-by the threat of a lawsuit.
For, even though the threat should
be justified, the object is unworthy
the attention.
THE LAURELS ARE CUT DOWN.
BY Archie Binns. New York:
Reynal & Hitchcock.
THIS is novel of the World War
which goes somewhat out of the
beaten track in that it's action is not
laid with the A. E. F. in France but
with that contingent of American
troops which was sent to Siberia after
the Russian revolution. Little Is
known about that expedition, and, as
Mr.. Binns writes with startling real
ism about it, readers will probably
find his story informative as well as
interesting-for it is interesting. It
should be borne in mind, however,
that he was not with the troops about
which he writes and in fact has never
been in Siberia at all
His story is that of two brothers,
born and reared in the pioneer coun-
try of Washington and how they
served their country in its time of
need. The first part of the book is
given over to pictures of pioneer life
in little timber settlement on Puget
Sound and to experiences of the
brothers prospecting gold in Alaska.
The fullness of this background seems
puzzling in the light of the later ac-
ton, but it has its purpose. Mr..
Binns, from his descriptions of the
pioneer training of the young, from
his unashamed delineation of the
patriotism and idealism which was
part of this training, sets his stage
for the contrast that comes when his
hero returns home and finds those
conditions which have generally come
to be called postwar" The Siberian
interlude, a fantastic and horrible ad-
venture, serves to connect the two
scenes, as though to show war in it's
worst ASPECT, the ASPECT of purpOse-