The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-01-16

Robert fBlack Benz Forbes for his
latest effort, biography he calls
Canton Captain" Doubleday,
| Doran).
Without any family tradition
! for following the sea, Ben Forbes
felt the call as a youngster and he
was only IA years old when he
sailed into Canton Harbor to be-
gin a career in the China trade as
fabulous as any fiction.
His rise through the ranks to
command of his own ship was so
rapid 1t bellies the imagination.
Never did a man drive his ships
any harder than Captain Forbes
His first impressions of Canton; the
ancient forts along the river bank;
the tens Of thousands of Chinese
living in sampans and subsisting
on rice and an occasional fish;
the sp.endor of the mandarins;
the power and wealth of the Hong
merchants all go to make engross-
ing reading.
The latter part of the book is
devoted to Forbes experimentation
with steam powered craft and
proving the desirability of screw
propellers over paddle wheels; his
unflagging patriotism in the face
OF repeated snubs by the govern
ment, and some Of his latter day
commands, but the action is slow
in comparison with the China
chapters. Making wits with pi-
rates, rebellious seamen, and bat
Ting Chinese MODS. who threatened |
his Canton warehouse, as well as
the voyages he made to South I
America and the Philippines as u |
trader, are high points in this
biography.
PROBABLY no modern writer |
save Angela Thirkell could write |
a fascinating story that makes no
pretense OF having any plot and |
virtually ignores those old standbys |
OF literature, the hero and the |
heroine.
But she has done just that in
"Northbridge Rectory' (KnopD , |
and has done it SO delightfully."- and
well that the OBJECTIONS never are
missed. Hers is the story of village
life in Britain under the blackout,
and it derives its strength from its
humanness, humor and deft char
acterization.
The war has brought rationing,
blackouts and soldiers to be bill
leted to the village Of Northbridge,
but i'll SO many other ways the
placid life Of this old English town
Is unchanged.
There Is, for example, the kind
~ rector of Northbridge and his
wife, Verona Villars; Miss Penn
berton and her literary friend, Mr..
Downing; Mrs. Turner and her
ebullient nieces, and Lieutenant
Holden and his fellow officers,
among a host of others.
All these and others form the
intimate, honey pattern of war
time life that Mrs. Thirlell spins
in her expert way.
CURT RIESS. in Total Espion-
age Putnam, tells the story
OF the new form Of German espi-
onage, which is as different from
ordinary spy methods as the Nazi
conception OF total war is from the
traditional separation OF military
and civil spheres.
RiesS notes that the Germans
have combined espionage with fifth
column activity in order simultan-
eouSly to create large bodies of
spies and observers In foreign coun-
tries while weakening the internal
structure and power to resist of the
potential enemy lands.
He credits much of the struc-
ture of Germany espionage to Ru-
dolf Hess, claiming that Hess got
many OF his ideas from the Japan
csc, who long had utilized all tray
cling Japanese nationals to pro-
vide a huge body of data on all
phrases of life in foreign countries.
He points out that the Germans
also took over ideas from the |
Communists International n d
welded the whole into a complex
and smoothly functioning section
Of their total war effort.
He also presents an interesting
picture of the state Of lassitude
which had overcome the French
Deuxieme Bureau and of the futile
efforts of the British intelligence
service to arouse the British gov
ernment III the Chamberlain and
Baldwin eras to the dangers OF
German rearmament.
CONCERT LIFE IN NEW ;
Putnam). by Richard
Aldrich, consists Of series of
reviews written by the late music
critic OF the New York Times. It ,
covers the period between 1902 .
and 1923 and provides q compre-
hensive picture Of those two bright
decades in music.
Aldrich had the virtue Of a sane
and understanding approach to |
music and its opponents. No one
could ever have accused him OF ]
being pedantic, hypercritical or !
fair. These excerpts from his writ
lngs are better than a formal his
tory, and provide ringside seat
to outstanding performances of a
era.
'MONEY IN THE BANK" (Dou-
bleday, Doran) is a recent eff
fort Of p. G.. Wodehcuse, and al
though written from the sanctuary
OF a Nazi prison camp, 1t follows
the timeworn pattern OF hodge
podge so delightful TO the Wode-
house fan. Missing diamonds. the
riturls Of the African tribe OF
Usubus, and such fantasticaily