Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-12-11

THE WINDSOR TAPESTRY.
Mackenzie. Stokes.
sorrows of his personal life. 1t will
certainly bear reading, even though
most of what 1t says has been said
before.
That the name of the ingenious
M. Andre Maurois should be found
on any list of written works assem-
bled casually is pretty we'll to be
expected. And so the reviewer finds
on her waiting shelf a biography
from the hand of that industrious
penman. 1t is of Chateaubriand and
is published by Harper & Bros. Alas,
M. Maurois is not so persuasive in
making his present hero seem a
figure of romance as he has been in
earlier life histories. He brings to
his job, to be sure, his familiar en-
gaging shallowness, his WELL
approved and transparency insin-
cere sententiousness. But, on the
whole, he writes boredly; he writes
indeed as if he had got the habit,
and, good luck, it would be no Won
der if he had. At any rate, his
Chateaubriand is vague, dim
figure throughout the work and M.
MauroiS' protestations as to that old
romanticist's genius carry no con-
vlctlon at all to modern reader
The book seems to have been an
effort to write and is beyond doubt
an effort to read. So much for it.
A more entertaining work is the
biography of the Princess Lieven
written by H. Montgomery Hyde and
published by Little Brown & Co.
The story of the brilliant Russian,
who, during the days of the English
Regency, was an influence in Euro
pean history and whose long CORE
spondence with Prince Metternich
made her virtually an agent of
Austria, is we'll told here. The style
is lively and the frequent excerpts
from contemporary writings are well
selected. The book gives a reader
very good picture of the compli-
Gated and deliberately handled poll
tics of Europe in the first decades of
the century, and delineates we'll the
gifted and high-spirited nature of
the princess. 1t makes good reading.
While it might seem that all the
letters of the Victorian reign must
have been published by now, con-
sldering the tones upon tones OF
that correspondence which has been
poured out on the markets of the
world, one more volume has re-
Gently come out-"The Letters of
the Prince Consort, 1831-1861."
This collection has been taken from
the Windsor archives and those of
the Prussian royal house. It in
cludes the Princes correspondence
with his German relatives and his
love letters to Victoria. The volume
would seem to be valuable, in that it
abundantly sets forth Prince Al
bert's views on politics, makes 1t
plain that he was sensitively aware
OF the opposition to him in certain
English circles and gives evidence of
his efforts to influence affairs on
the continent. The book is edited
by DR.. Kurt Jagow. has appeared in
Germany and is published in Eng
fish. we are told, by the authority
OF the King. E. P. Dutton & Co. is
the American publisher.
The reviewer has said above that
no list of books would be complete
without work by M. Andre Maui
rois. and she now adds that VOL
ume on America by visiting Eng
lishman would seem to be equally
obligatory. Such a volume is found.
too. on her waiting shelf. The visit
ing Englishman is a visiting Eng
lishwoman this time-Miss Vera
Britain, that earnest soul. but the
effect of the work is much the
same. Miss Britain is writing her
memoirs of travel among us, and
calls her book part of her auto
biography, but in the main she
obligingly explains us to ourselves,
working very hard to make herself
perfectly clear, so that all of us who
buy her book will get our honest
moneys worth in instruction. Miss
Britain is one of those English
women who go in for movements,
take the uplift with terrible gravity,
have mission in life, write duly
and possess no sense of humor. Her
title is Thrice a Stranger" and her
publisher is the Macmillan Co.
Another obligatory type in any
average group of books is the life
history of the foreigner who has
adjusted" himself to America.
Two examples of this manner of
work are to be found on the con-
science shelf-one by Slogan Chris
towe, Bulgarian, and the other by
Ludwig Bemelmans, a Bavarian.
Mr. Christowe's book is entirely
orthodox. He came to our country
when he was quite young-13, to be
exact-he lived among other for
eigners who were laboring in Amer
ica's industries, he worked on the
railroads, he achieved the vision Of
America. he decided to become an
American, and 10. he did. He even
calls his work my America" He
writes quite well, however, and, If
you can forget how many times you
have already read his story. you will
find it mildly interesting. The pub
Usher is Carrick & Evans.