Hanover Browsing

FOR those who like to read English history I recommend a nice volume in the Oxford World Classics: Oliver Cromwelland the Rule of the Puritans in England, by Sir Charles Firth. This book was first published in 1900 and has established itself as preeminent for the period.

Hanson W. Baldwin has come up with a most readable volume: Sea Fighters andShipwrecks (Hanover House). This contains such famous stories as the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the torpedoing of the Lusitania in 1915, the mystery of the MaryCeleste, the story of the Birkenhead, of how Commander Mackenzie hanged Mid- shipman Spencer, son of a cabinet officer, for mutiny on the Somers, as well as brilliant thumb-nail accounts of the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the saga of the Cruiser Houston on which my good friend Jay Griffiths '42 met his fate, and a rousing account of the "greatest sea-air battle in history" around Okinawa between "the fleet that came to stay" and the brave "Kamikazes," who gave all for Nippon. And Typhoon, 1944, must be read, for it was one of the greatest natural disasters our Navy ever suffered. Here, too, the controversial positions of Kinkaid and Halsey are stated concerning the Battle of Leyte Gulf. This book is a must for all those who like to read of true adventure.

Also issued by Hanover House is a book which tells much that there is to know about the grizzly: The Beast That WalksLike Man, by Harold McCracken. The author has hunted grizzlies for many years, and has studied the lore, legend and history of this magnificent animal. I would hate to think of the day when the grizzly ceases to exist. A book for sportsmen and all lovers of wild animals.

Oscar Lewis has written the latest volume in the American Folkways series: High Sierra Country, published by Little, Brown for Duell, Sloan, and Pearce. I was happy to note that my reading last winter in the Bancroft and the Huntington Libraries had given me a fair background for this book. Lewis has told the Muir story, told about the "trail breakers," the national parks, the story of the Donner Party, of the great peaks, etc. I personally found little here that was new but it certainly is an excellent summary of the history and exploration of the West.

And this reminds me to mention the finest book I know on the National Parks, and costing only one dollar. It is Freeman Tilden's The National Parks (Knopf). If you ever expect to visit any or all of your natural national heritage this book must be read. I salute the author who, according to Who's Who, lives in New Hampshire.

Two novels I enjoyed, though neither has any great pretensions save to entertain, are Richard O'Connor's Guns of Chickamauga (for me there was not enough about the battle itself), and Robert Payne's The Roaring Boys, in which this amazingly versatile writer recreates Shake- speare's London, his actors, and Will himself. Henry Williams tells me (and I have respect for his knowledge of this period) that Mr. Payne has some boners, but this scarcely detracts from the gusto and pace of the story. For me Shakespeare and his "roaring boys" come to life. Only a few months ago I walked near the site of the "Mermaid" and other haunts of Will Shakespeare, so perhaps the book has more of an appeal for me than it will for you.

One o£ the funniest cartoon books I have ever seen is Cartoon Treasury, by Lucy and Pyke Johnson. It is described as the biggest and funniest collection of international wit ... and not far off the mark. Here are the best cartoons from Italy, France, Germany, England, and a few from America. This is definitely for the bedside or any other place where one, on occasion, meditates.

And speaking of wit, I found disappointing Oliver St. John Gogarty's Start fromSomewhere Else, which contains several off-color, stale jokes of most dubious taste. However I was interested in what he had to say of Augustus John and Hugh MacDiarmid, the Scottish poet, and other writers and artists.

I re-read E. M. Forster's Two Cheers forDemocracy, which contains some magnificent writing as well as much inspired good sense. Pick this up along with his AbingerHarvest and enjoy the best there is in English prose today.