BOOK REVIEWS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 202, 24 May 1944, Page 8

BOOK REVIEWS

How Italy Was Brought To War

•‘One Man Alone.” by Maxwell Macartney (London : Chatto and Windus). Mr. Churchill publicly put. upon Mussolini (he sole responsibility of dragging the people of Italy into war. "One Man Alone” expands tile contention and shows the aspects of Mussolini’s period of power which inevitably led to war. The book is not a history of Fascism or even of Mussolini. It opens at the close of Mussolini's authority in July, 1943, and deals with all the important aspects of affairs in Italy up to his final downfall. The author has a knowledge of Italy going back over half a century. lie was “’Times’ correspondent for 11 years. For that reason his book is authoritative and in many places is documented by references and dates. Contained within the pages of this book will be found unbiased references to all tlie well-known characters who appeared on the stage set by Mussolini. and not a few characters who may be described as “noises off.” Mr. Macartney deals at fair length with the King of Italy, who neither occupied the stage nor can be described as "noises off” in view of the fact that he never appeared to make a sound. There is an’interesting chapter on Italy’s war record and the state of the Home Front. His comment on the policy and the attitude of the Vatican also gives an insight into the religious aspect of Italy. The complicated currents which tossed Mussolini s ill-fated ship of State into the whirlpools of war are clearly laid out and discussed in a knowledgeable manner. "We Are 115 Millions” by Antoni Plutynski (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode). The 115 millions are the inhabitants of Central-Eastern Europe, the people living between the Baltic and the Black and Eastern Mediteranean Seas in nearly a dozen small countries. Mr. Plutynski wants to see them combined, the medium he proposes being a commonwealth of the central-eastern Powers. This commonwealth would be for the maintenance not the abolition, of national sovereignty, apd would be able to present a united front to any great Power seeking to repeat Hitler’s policy. Mr. Plutynski is nothing if not practical, and he offers a clear and detailed 'plan which should be workable. It has, incidentally, the blessing of Mr. Douglas Reed. ‘‘The lesson seems cleatenough,” he says in a foreword when commenting on the failure of the Little Entente. “All the nations between Germany and Russia, between the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, canonly survive if nil join together to preserve their nationhood. ... By the formation of such a commonwealth as this the cargo of Europe, which has been shifting about all through the centuries, would be firmly stowed and the ship become steady.” Whether or not the reader agrees with Mr. Plutynski, he will find in his book a mine of Information about a section of Europe which in the past has stayed hidden from view beneath a cloud of ignorance. “Rnngli-Rungliot,” by Rumor Godden (London: Peter Davies). This is a book telling of the daily happenings when the author, a well-known novelist, sought refuge from the war-torn world in a remote tea plantation in India. She had with her her two small daughters, and for n time their governess, but life became a very simple, timeless affair, dominated by the snow-capped peaks in the blue skyabove and the swift-flowing river at the bottom of the steep tea-covered valley. A native household staff, the garden, and the sayings of lhe children provide gentle interest, and drawings by Tontyn Hopman in tune with the quiet tenor of the text combine to make a charming tale. "Long Ears,” by Patricia Lynch (London: Dent). Here is another quaint story by the author of ‘.‘The Turf-Cutter’s Donkey,” this time about another donkey. Long Ears did not have adventures while he stayed quietly with his mother, Kattie Duv, at Sky Farm, but one night he slipped out of the farm gate, and was caught by tinkers on the moor. The many strange things that happened to him will delight all young pepole, and there are also many illustrations to add to the pleasure of the book. ' ,