Evening star., 1938-07-03

MASTER kUNG. Crow. Har-
perS.
coNscR1Pr EUROPE. Leigh.
Putnam.
He lists the possibilities before him,
If he stayed, as death, protective
custody or imprisonment In a con-
centration camp. He mentions, in the
course Of his narrative, however, one
factor with which the Nazis may have,
as he feels. considerable dificulty. And
that is the deeply religious character
of the Austrian people. They are. he
says positively medieval in the tenacity
and simplicity of their faith. That
they will submit to the Nazi paganism
seems to him more than dubious. 1t is
an element which may be watched
with interest, at any rate.
TRENDING INTO MAINE. BY Ken.
meth Roberts. Illustrated by N. c.
Wyeth. Boston: Little. Brown &
Co.
HE fashion among American writer's
of making books about separate
States claims now no less an eminence
than Kenneth Roberts. This, OBJ
viously, is to the good of the fashion.
The present book. series of studies
and impressions Of Maine, easily adds
honors to that group which already
includes such good works as Stars
Fell on Alabama" Listen for a Lone
some Drum" and The Blue Hills"
1t is not superficial and it does not
pretend to be profound 1t uses no
no coy attempt to professionalize local
quainteries. 1t approaches its subject
in the only way possible-that of u
man who knows what he is writing
about. 1t is refreshingly solid and.
needless to say, since Kenneth Roberts
is writing it. completely readable.
Mr.. Roberts should know his Maine,
OF course. He has already written a
flock of novels out of its history and
he is q native of the State. It appears
now that, from the researches done for
his works Of fiction. he has left-overs
sufficient to make an impressionistic
State history. And out of his own
acquaintance with Maine people, he
has understanding to interpret that
history. That is what he does here.
He writes the story of his State
from exploration days down to the
time of the great ship captains. He
then takes up the family OF the
Nasons, whose fortunes are reflected
in his fiction. The first Mason seems
to have arrived in Maine in 1889 or
earlier. having come there from
Stratford-on-Avon. His large tribe of
descendants had highly picturesque
history; in 1t are involved fights by
sea and land, trials for Witchcraft,
breaking of wilderness lands and
turbulent differences of opinion with
authority. They were fine people, the
Nasons. They liked a large liberty.
When Mr.. Roberts has brought them
as far as the sea captain era he lets
them speak for themselves. as he puts
1t. and gives over q section of his
book to their letters. Many of these
are written by women, for it was the
habit of the Yankee captains to take
their wives with them on their long
cruises. The epistles are lively.
More than this, Mr.. Roberts writes
OF Maine cookery, Maine hunting and
fishing, Maine ships and ship building,
Maine legends and Maine farms. He
describes the part played by his State
in the American Revolution. And he
throws In for gratuity an account of
Names possibilities as a vacation land
and how to make the most of them.
Books about our people. our Ameri-
cans, which have for their purpose to
celebrate and preserve our traditions
and the genuine spirit Of our breed
can and should be written. But they
cannot be written by investigators
armed with note books and should not
even be attempted on such a basis.
When, however, a man knows his
ground land, in addition, knows how
to write) he can perform a real service
to us by producing such a book as
this-though that of course is no rea-
son for his doing it.
SAVE AMERICA FIRST. By Jerome
Frank. New York: Harper g. Eros.
NO AMERICAN, certainly, can OBJ
ject to the admonition set forth
In the title Of this book And neither
is it likely that any of us, no matter
what our politics, would object to any
genuine formula set forth for the ac-
complishment of our national saliva
ton. In the present book we have an
unquestionably sincere effort to arrive
at such formula, and we have long
argument as to why 1t Is important for
us TO think Of our own country's well
fare before that of others. But. alas.
while the argument is clear. the for
mula is not. The work is long, learned.
detailed and-obscure.
1t rests on the thesis that Americas
traditions and history indicate that her
course as Nation should be pursued
without foreign entanglements. And
That Is excellent. 1t then claims that
our economic problems are our most
pressing ones. And that, too, is indis-
putable. But in attempting to relate
now we can solve those economic prob
lens in way that will keep us disen-
tangled. the work seems uncertain. It's
contention is that the planless economy
which brought about the depression
must come to an end. and that we must
make arrangements to insure both the
mass production and the mass con-
sumption of goods within our own bor-
ders. Other writer's on the subject
nave said as much before, notably DR.,
CHARLES Beard. Mr.. Frank argues that
the change to be brought about must
be as extensive as revolution, but that
it must be accomplished without revo-
luton. and gradually. It is here that
he becomes vague.