Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-07-09

from the Nations printing presses
has Quoted down into midsummer
trickle. the reviewer is able to turn
her attention to some of the books
which, for mere reasons of space
and time. have hitherto been neg
lected Space and time are still
operative, however, and make it
impossible to present here any but
thumbnail notices. The reviewer
regrets that this is so; space and
time, indeed, have been her enemies
since she can remember. Capitu-
lating to them now, she begs her
readers to blame them, and not the
books mentioned below, for the
brevity of the descriptions which
she is able here to offer.
Biographies.
FIGHTING FOR LIFE. BY S. JOS
ephine Baker. New York: The
Macmillan Co.
The story of a woman doctors
professional career and distin
guiShed career too, in that the
author was director of the Bureau
of Child Hygiene and has also been
COnsultant to the Children'S Bureau
of the Department of Labor. Much
of the present narrative deals with
her experiences as a member of the
New York City Department of
Health and gives picturesque views
of welfare work and Tammany poll
tics 1t is worth reading, even with
physicians life histories averaging
one a week.
BORN TO TROUBLE. BY Capt.
Patrick A. Meade New York:
G.. P. Putnams Sons.
The slightly too picturesque auto
biography of a soldier of fortune.
The author fought in the Camel
Corps in the Sudan, was in the
World War and wrought prodigies
of valour in that conflict, took part
in the trouble in Archangel in 1918,
got in on the shooting on Indla'S
Northwest frontier a year later and
then went, as so many good officers
do, into the British Intelligence
Service Through it all he was very,
very Irish. Still, he has a readable
book here. if you like the rafting
kind of narrative.
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. BY
Katherine John. New York: G.
P. Putnams Sons.
The story of the son of Napoleon,
Sd, he who was killed fighting for
England in the Zulu War. An ex-
cellently written, ironical thing,
with amusing portraits of the
Princes great contemporaries.
THADDEUS STEVENS. BY AL
phonse B. Miller. New York:
Harper & Bros.
The story of the man who, after
the assassination of President Lin
coin, dominated the Reconstruction
Congress. 1t is detailed and highly
informative and casts much good
light on that dark postwar period
Not popularity written; rather, a
scholarly piece of work.
Plus XII BY Joseph F. Dineen.
New York: Robert NJ. Mcbride
& Co.
A biography of the present head
of the Roman Catholic Church. 1t
is intelligent, but somewhat limited
in its scope 1t emphasizes the
Pope's pacific tendencies but avoids
much speculation in the troubled
realm of politics. Somewhat disap-
pointing.
SOLDIER OF THE CHURCH. BY
Ludwig Marcuse. Translated from
the German by Christopher La
zare. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
The life history of Ignatius 10y
ola. 1t is ironic in tone but not
In any way biased. The picture it
presents is of an immensely prac-
tical fanatic-in its own words,
"a cross-fertilization of the seed
OF Assist and Machiavelli And
Machiavelli was the stronger"
None but the most humorless should
find it a distasteful work.
SEVEN GRASS HUTS. BY Ceclie
Hulse Matschat. New York: Far
rar & Rinehart.
One of those wife stories, telling
how the author kept house for her
engineer husband in the wilds of
Central and South America. 1t
shows an intelligent mind, but all
too often lapses into the fatefully
coy style of the lady writer who is
never really unconscious of her
personal charm. Yet the material
which it offers on natives and
country is genuinely interesting.
Novels
THE EDGE OF RUNNING WATER.
BY William Sloane. New York:
Farrar & Rihehart.
A sort of Super-thrlller, well
worth the summer reading. 1t CEN
tiers around a lonely house on the
Kennebec River, where a strange
young scientist works in a curious
laboratory to perfect means of
communicating with the dead. OBJ
viously an impossible tale, told in an
engagingly creepy manner.
CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY. BY
Howard Fast. New York: Simon
& SchuSter.
A historical novel built on the IA
nous winter which the Revolution
al Amy opCllt at SdHcy IOIsc. IL
Is told in terms of private in the
ranks and deals hardly with Con-
gress and some officers. Not such
a distinguished performance.
THE CHILDREN OF GUERNICA.
BY Hermann Kesten. New York:
Alliance Book Corp.
A German exile writes of the war
IN Spain. 1t is a fine book, clear
and distinguished in style and ex-
cellently vivid in portraying the
simple, childlike Basque people of
which it treats. The story centers
around the bombing of Guernica
and the life and death of Basque
family of that city. One Of the
good books of the summer crop