The Wyandotte news-herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1943-1963, 1944-12-18

We'll as the great and near-great of
the literary. theatrical, political and
sports world. Since it is amusing,
pickup reading it seemed an ideal
gift book. / took IL home one night
last week, intending to read few
anecdotes at random before going
to sleep. To my extreme annoyance
(when I discovered the lateness of
the hour, I read the book all the
way through Fortunately, it was
the night before my day off, and
the lateness Of the hour / reached
town to shop the next day was
compensated for only by the fact
that I neatly disposed of my selec-
ton of gifts for four people by de-
Gliding to give them all TRY AND
STOP NE. And 1 hope someone
thinks to give me one. 1t Is, truly,
as the blurb goes. a treasure trove
Of the best anecdotes and stories
people have ever palmed off as their
own. 1t would be a Grass untruth
to say that there is a laugh on every
page. There are several laughs on
every page"
On the subject of Our Country"
there are several books anyone
should enjoy reading. Stephen Vim
cent Benet's AMERICA, written
with skill and beauty, is an I'M
biased Interpretation of the found
ing and growth of the United States.
Since it was written for translation
In dozens of languages in the at
tempt to explain America to the
other nations of the world, the
emphasis of this brief book is on
the ideals and principles rather
than on the history of our country.
From the historical point of view
H. 8. Commanger, one of Americas
leading historians, says that Charles
and Mary Boards BASIC HISTORY
OF THE UNITED STATES is "all
in all, the best short history of the
United States yet written" Russell
Davenport gives us a poets "pas-
sionate vision of America, its orig
ms. its destiny" in his :ong poem,
MY COUNTRY.
A provocative and stimulating
book concerning America in war
time is John DOS Passes STATE
OF THE NATION. A companion
piece to this book is Hilary st.
Georges PIONEERS! o PION-
EERS! Saunders, as you probably
know, is the Librarian of the House
of Commons and the author of
books published for the British Min
istry Of Information such as THE
BATTLE FOR BRITAIN, CON-
BINED OPERATIONS, etc. Written
as a result of Saunders trip through
the United States and Canada on
a mission for the British Ministry
OF Information, PIONEERS! o.
PIONEERSl tells, from an English
point Of view, somewhat the same
story Dos Passes STATE OF THE
NATION does. 1t is interesting to
compare the two.
OF interest to all in this section
Of the Middle-west is the American
Lakes Series. These books, the story
OF each lake in a separate volume
and by different author, give his
tory, description and anecdotes of
the Great Lakes from the time of
the explorers to the present day.
Also candidate for the book
shelves of anyone in this area is
CALL 1T NORTH COUNTRY" a
vigorous and dramatic book con-
corning the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan. Many maps and photo
graphs enhance the value of this
book.
OUT OF THE MIDWEST, edited
by John T. Frederick, is a revealing
and colorful anthology of prose and
poetry, fiction and non-fiction, all
concerning our Midwestern section
of the United States.
Many of the best books on the
war were referred to in last weeks
column. Those, in addition to being
good reading, should make good gift
books.
For one interested in current
world events there is Edgar Shows
PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE. This gives
a significant and comprehensive
picture of our Allies, and is written
with such understanding and auth
ority that the Council on Books
In Wartime has named it "Impera-
tive" This book will be Of great
assistance in guiding you to an in
telligent understanding of the prob
lens of India, Russia, China, etc.
I, for one, should like to own 1t.
If the recipient Of your gift book
has friend or relative in the serv-
ice (and probably even II he HASN'T
he should enjoy q. I. SONGS, COM
piled by Edgar Palmer. Here are
dozens Of eongs, written, composed
and collected by the men IN the
services" Included are 80 piano
scoreA