Evening star., 1949-07-24

on wide study. never obtrudes into
pedantry. but is implicit in her
easy descriptions Of people, GUS
toms and places.
We meet Caesar when he Is 10,
already married to Cornelia and
father of Julia. already savoring
the ambition that was a hunger
all his life. Prescribed by the
old dictator, Sulla, which meant
there was a price on the young
mans head. Caesar had to 50 into
exile for several years. We follow
his adventures abroad. then his
return to Rome and his steady
rise to power despite the powerful
enemies which he always had.
In essentials, Miss Mabie has
stuck close to history, though she
has allowed her fancy free range
in supplying details. Caesar
emerges entirely credible-a SYM
pathetic character. naturally, and
yet with none of his ruthlessness,
his willingness to sacrifice any one
to gain his goals, CLOSED over.
Perhaps Miss Mabie attempted
too much in trying to compress
the whole of Caesars complex Ca
reer into 376 pages. Nothing is left
out-the Gallo campaign, the in
vasion of Britain, his three mar
riages, the love of his middle age
for Cleopatra, his assassination
two years after the Roman Senate
made him dictator for life. At
times these pages seem too crowd
ed with men and events. without
pause enough to assimilate them,
and the story begs for more cpl
sodic treatment. But on the whole
the author has done remarkably
well. 1t is rare indeed to find
a historical novel as intelligent as
Prepare Them for Caesar"
% SHEPHERD, SPEAK!
BY Upton Sinclair. viking;
$780,
If you belong to the very large
public that has read the adven-
lures of Lanny Budd. secret presi-
dental agent, you'll know that
this is the tenth book-and the
last, the author says he "hopes
in the series that takes this
extraordinary rover boy from 1889
to the end of the war.
In this book, Lanny has some
typical experiences. such as get
ting caught in the Battle of the
Bulge while reclaiming art treas
ures for the appropriate Army
project. But he is concerned
mostly with how after the war to
spend s1,O00,000 which has been
left him to prevent future wars.
He and his wife and their ad-
visers finally decide on a radio
program called Peace" and a
syndicated feature. Lanny is
with President Roosevelt the night
before his death and is intrusted
with new mission to sound out
Stain. Try to show him. Mr..
Roosevelt is quoted as having said,
that if he will make real peace
and let the democratic countries
alone, they will be travelling the
road toward social control of in
dustry and may surprise him ny
the speed with which they move"
The mission, of course, is of,
but President Truman revives it
later and the author does not
hesitate to quote him. Lanny,
who is an enthusiastic Socialist,
finds Stain only repeating gen.
eralities and advises the President
to be hopeful but keep his powder
dry. Mr. Sinclair apparently
has little hope that anything but
autocracy can come out the pres
ent setup in Russia Mr.. Roose-
velt's voice comes back through
medium-none other than Lannys
wife Laurel-and the dead Presi-
dent comments: Stain is not
keeping his agreements and I am
being blamed for it,
Some critics haven't cared for
the Lanny Budd books. Some of
us have called their adventures
juvenile, their history slanted. But
as Mr.. Sinclair says in footnote
to the series, "The critics do not
really matter; they are a small
group which writes for a small
audience"