Evening star., 1938-05-15

1t is good writing and it is well plan
ned. To those who find such merits in
a book satisfactory. Land Without
Moses" is recommended.
A BOOK on an unusual subject pub
lished in recent weeks is
"Chanco," by Helen Orr Watson. who,
incidentally. is Washingtonian.
"Chanco" is the story of an Army
homing pigeon; it is told with great
detail and displays an expert knowl-
edge of pigeon training and service.
While the book is simple enough in its
language to be read by children, it also
ought to interest adults who like odd
bits OF information. It is illustrated by
pictures taken by Signal Corps pho
tographers and has a foreword by
George B. Gibbs, who was formerly
chief of the Signal Corps for the Army.
An autobiography which seems to
have been left on the conscience shelf
is that Of Douglas Jerrold, published
by Scribners under the title Georgian
Adventure Mr.. Jerrold Is an Eng
lishman whose career as a government
official and publisher brought him
into contact with many prominent men
and Women-kings, dictators, politi-
clans, writer's, soldiers and SO on. He
writes his memory of these individuals
here in the usual sprightly manner
OF the educated Britisher, which is to
say that his book has a certain dis.
tinguished quality without any real
distinction.
I Live Under Black Sun" is the
forbidding title Of Edith Sitwelrs re-
cent novel, published by Doubleday
Doran. 1t is historical rendering
OF the story of Jonathan Swift, Stella
and Vanessa. 1t is long, involved and
overrefined, but marked with emo
tional power, too. Certainly it is not
novel for the light reader" On
the other hand, it is intelligent and
IN good taste. Those who like their
novels to be intellectual exercises first
and stories afterward should find 1t
entertaining.
Another historical novel on the
shelf is Frank o. Hough's "Renown,"
the story Of Benedict Arnold's career
and tragedy. 1t is published by Car
rick & Evans. For some weeks it was
a best seller. It seems to be sound
historically, but it is crudely written.
Mr.. Gerald Bullet has also written
novel recently, one as ingenious as
his past performances would lead
reader to expect. It is called THE
Bending Sickle" and is published by
Alfred A. Knopf. It is the story of a
woman's development from roman
tically inclined girlhood to maturity,
told in the frame of secondary plot.
There is nothing to it, except that Mr..
Bullet is extremely neat and plausible
here, just as he always is.
1NDER the title, THE Secret Let
ters Of the Last Tsar," Longmans
Green & Co. has published some of
the correspondence which passed be-
tween Nicholas II and his mother, the
Dowager Empress, in the years be-
tween 1879 and the Russian revolu-
ton. In spite of this intriguing
name, the book brings no secrets" to
light. The dowager's letters are those
which any affectionate and rather
fussy mother might write to her son,
while the Tsar's are models Of con-
ventional filial respect. Nowhere in
the collection is there any serious dis
cussion of governmental policies or af-
fairs. but only an interchange of
family news, gossip and fond trivial
tiles. The book does no more than
confirm the already abundant evi-
dence Of Nicholas personal innocu-
business.
Another recent best seller which
unaccountably got left on the shelf is
DR.. William N. Macartney's Fifty
Years Country Doctor" published