Evening star., 1944-10-22
The Neuv Books
7 he Dream of Philip II.
By Edgar Mass. (Bobbs-Mer

by EuyuT MuuSS. f6OOOS-M eT-
riH. $780,
This is a sort of impressionistic
review OF the more dramatic events
in the life Of Philip II, King Of
Spain. 1t is not a biography of the
monarch. nor by any means a COM
plete history of his reign. One sup
poses that it Is one of those things
currently known as biographical
portraits ts"-book- length sketches de-
signed to give the reader an under
standing of the psychological make
up Of the subject. Even for that,
however, the book Is little thin.
But is thoroughly interesting and
entertaining, for the author uses
good popular style, and needless to
say has some of the richest his
torical material in the last milen-
mum to draw on.
Insofar as he practices psyche
analysis on Philip he comes up with
very harmless diagnosis. He says
biioU tIiC hi1lE wiz ~ IllS illC >
purpose to exterminate all dissenters
from his own religion was not, as
| later history has painted him, a
tyrant of inhuman cruelty, but mere
ly logical statesman of somewhat
limited intelligence. Philips sup
port of the Inquisition, his terror
iStic assaults on the Netherlands, his |
attempt to conquer England-these,
says DR.. Mass, were not express
sionS OF personal mania, but of a
governmental policy which, given the |
kings education, inheritance and |
environment, was completely ra-
tional. AS man Philip is shown
to have been upright and even
kindly.
It's the old problem-of how
thing can be right for the man as
king and wrong for the man as
citizen. DR. Mass does not labor it,
however, nor does he limit his work |
to consideration of Philip. He de-
votes chapters to the great charac-
tiers of the period-El Greco, Ger
vantes, Queen Elizabeth, Don John |
of Austria, Francis Drake. For a |
popular work of historical content
he has done very pleasant job.
Tragic Ground
By Erskine CdldpeH. (DueH,
Sloan & Pearce. S2.50)
This is another of Erskine Cald-
wells novels about mental defec-
tives of the social stratum known
as white trash" And they aren't |
doing any better than they were in
Tobacco Road" They're no more
moral or honest, and no cleaner /
All OF which, the reviewer admits, |
caused her some surprise. She has
lately been reading novels in which ,
the classically deplored white trash"
are shown to be at least natures
noblemen, in every way superior to
the educated Southerners and
she thought maybe the change OF
fashion was going to be general !
But Mr.. Caldwell does not see the
new light. The white trash, he
says, are white trash, and there is
nothing you can do about tex
cept, OF course, write sensational
novels That's his story, and he
sticks to it.
In the present little book, he gives
JUS a family of hill billies-the /,
Douthits-who come down to the
Gulf Coast to work in a munitions
plant and then are left stranded
when the factory closes down. The
whole action of the book covers only
three days and centers around the
efforts of social worker to get the
fDouthits to go back home
Mr.. Caldwell claps on to this tale |
the sort of social sermon which one
would expect of hint is Condi-
tions, he says, which make. such |
people. Conditions being, in this
instance, war booms and industrial
slums. But his own, character, Pa
Douthit. contradictS him. Pa ad-
mits gaily that, even back in the
hills, his folks have always been
called the 'doggone Douthits." The
reviewer inclines to agree with Pa.
Freedom Road
By HoUard Fast. (DueU, Sloan
d PeGrce. S2.75.J
Deep River
By Henrietta BuckmQSter.
fHdrcOurt, Brace: So
Here are two novels dealing with
the Negro in the process of gaining
his freedom. They do not coincide
in time or place. The first is set in
South Carolina in the reconstruc-
ton period, the second is about
Georgia in the years Immediately
preceding the Civil War. But the
authors have taken so many points
in common that it seems justifiable
to review the books together.
Both are strictly limited in their
outlook to the proposition that, as
slavery was wrong, all slave owners