Evening star., 1937-11-06
BROMFIELD TURNS CREATIVE
Sincerity Surprisingly Emerges Out Of Defines and High Polish
in New Novel by Bright Young Man Of the Twenies.
Sir Ronald Storrs Writes "reminiscences.

CoUNTER-ATTACK IN SPAIN. BY
Ramon Sender. Translated from
the Spanish by Sir Peter Chalmers
Mitchell. Boston: Houghton Milf
lin Co.
AN OBSCURE style and a bitter
spirit make this book dificult
reading. and that is = pity. Its au-
thor is one Of Spain's foremost writers:
his opinion on the civil war ought to
be interesting and valuable. His pres
ent book, however, Is confused with
that confusion which comes from a
too intimate closeness to its subject.
There Is no mistaking the authors
stand In the issue, Of course; he is
savagely anti-Fascist, he is a Com
munist and an embracer OF the doc
trine OF class warfare. But the de-
tail OF his story is involved. the style
Is repetitious and obscure and be-
yond the mere statement Of the au-
thor's stand the work CONVEYS little
to foreigner whose acquaintance
with the inner workings Of Spanish
politics Is necessarily limited. This,
as said, seems to be a pity.
There is ample reason. of course.
for Senor Sender's bitterness. As he
tells in the final pages OF his book,
his wife and numerous relatives were
murdered by the Fascists; he calls 1t
murder, at any rate, and since his
statement Is that the executions were
without trial-or even without the
formality of making charges-one can
scarcely do other than accept his esti-
mate. A man who has suffered so can
hardly have any feeling toward the
issue except one Of hatred.
The book Is the record of Senor
Senders service In the army of the
loyalists. There are episodes of great
dramatic beauty and terror to BE-
found in the course OF the volume.
but in general it is hard to read. It
has the effect Of man talking to
himself about something which he
knows extremely well. There are
hiatuses in 1t which are beyond the
nlling OF those less amply supplied
with knowledge.
1t is a Saddening book. However.
Tor those who have followed the lit
erature Of the Spanish struggle land
wnen mas any war been so documented
during It's progress?) it is a volume
not to be omitted.
THE TURNING WHEELS. By Stuart
Cloete. Boston: Houghton- Mifflin
Co.
This is novel by new writer who
writes OF an almost new field
the Transvaal in 1886. His story is
That OF the so-called Great Trek. a
Jorney made by small army Of Boer
farmers who. angered at the English
settlers OF their Cape Colony. turned
north In search of new lands where
they might live unmolested. They
made the trek by wagon train, much
In the fashion of our own Westward
pioneers. Hence the name OF Mr..
Cloete's book.
1t is without doubt lively and vivid
tale. 1t has for its theme the move
ment OF the people into wilderness
lands; that Is its real structure. Its
method is to relate the personal lives
OF individuals in the wagon train
loves, murders, scouting for hostile
natives, deaths-almoet day by dav
as the caravan rolls slowly forward.
direct primitive quality in these
| personal preoccupations gives the
work highly readable quality, max
ing 1t almost scenario for actiy-
lty. This offsets the amateurish QUAIL
ity Of Mr.. Cloete's writing and neutra-
Lies his obvious desire to add to
the sensationalism of his work by
constant, rather too plain, reference
TO certain physiological processes. On
the whole the merits of the book
which are genuine and arrestinp-
would seem to Offset the faults. the
chief Of which is inexperience and
youthfulness. 1t can be recommend
ed as the work Of a writer of likely
promise.
THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR. By Can't,
Eric Acland. Philadelphia: John C.
Winston Co.
THIS is a very radiant account-it
does not deserve the term his
tory"-of the reigns and personalities
OF George V, Edward VIII and George
vi, written in vein Of adulation so
unqualified as to be downright en-
oarrassing. There can be no point in
the appearance Of such a volume at
this particular time, OF course, except
to cast light on Edwards abdication:
indeed. all the material relating to the
other two monarchs is already known
and unimportant stuff into the bar
gain. About Edward VIII. however.
Capt. Acland gives some interesting
material. 1t is not information which
relates directly to his remuneration of
the throne; 1t is contained instead in
the sketch Of Edwards activities in
behalf of the unemployed and desti-
tute previous to his retirement.
The reviewer found this sketch in
teresting because there has been con-
siderable talk as to the possibility that
the former Kings championship of
the working classes was the real rea-
son for the forcing of the issue of
his marriage. Yet up to now, as far.I
as the reviewer knows, no one has
made a coherent record of just what
his championship included. Capt. Ac-
lands account is lamentably sketchy,
1t Is irritatingly one-sided, too. But it |
does give an outline, at least, Of what |
Edward undertook for the assistance
OF those Of his subjects who were suf-
fering from poverty. Apart from this
there is nothing to commend the book
to anyone's attention.
WITCH IN THE WILDERNESS. BY
Desmond Holdridge. New York:
Harcourt, Brace 6 Co.
A FTER Mr.. Holdridge's rich chron-
icle Of his return to nature on q
tropical island. this, his first novel, is
definite let down. Even by itself the
latest work does little to stir the imag-
1nation or whet the interest. In fact,