A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

ByWilliam Cahn '34. New York: RandomHouse, 1970. 301 pp. With many illustrations, a map, and bibliography. $7.95.

Here is a lovely title conjuring up in one's mind the picture of a blustery, raw, wintry evening comfortably spent in a deep chair beside a cheery fire smouldering pleasantly as the occupant anticipates a new Sherlock Holmes yarn. But this story, though constantly engaging and always interesting with its many intriguing characters, turns out to be a quite different type of tale. Actually it is the vibrant history, transporting the reader from colonial to current times, of one of America's great life insurance companies, The Connecticut Mutual, established in 1846 as the country's sixth oldest.

The intervening century and a quarter as related by William Cahn, the author, is a fascinating recreation of history using the documentary form of writing which permits authentic and readable facts to set the scene. And what a tremendous job of research it must have been for Mr. Cahn! The 20 chapters were developed from source material numbering upwards of 75 books, to say nothing of the various periodicals and newspapers of the day. In short, the author has predigested a prodigious mountain of material before serving it up for us in its final attractive form.

We get the picture of a tiny company developing in Hartford when the population of that great city was not yet 13,000 and when there were less than 15,000 lives insured in all of America. It was launched at a time when everybody seemed to be talking about life insurance and on both sides of the question. An ad pointed out that "A married woman may insure the life of her husband, free from any demands of her creditors," while The New York Times warned, "He who insures his life must indeed be a victim of his own folly or of another's knavery." But the company made progress in the atmosphere of New England's traditional frugality operating with "a strict system of economy in the management of its affairs."

It never veered from that concept. By 1855 it had 8500 policy holders and by 1867 over 55,000. The Civil War had no adverse effect and after the war the company extended its activities westward, centering them in the frontier community of Chicago. This move, undertaken with usual caution, proved profitable despite the tremendous losses of the Chicago fire, and the company with sound reasons could advertise itself as the "largest, most prominent life insurance company in this country."

After the war came the so-called Tontine era, a system fought by the company for 30 years, finally resulting in the Armstrong investigation of 1905 which put Charles Evans Hughes, as "undramatic as an adding machine," in the national spotlight and served to overhaul, in the best interests of the public, the entire industry. And so on through boom times, wars, panics and depressions the reader is treated to a short, but surprisingly complete course in American history and the part played in it by the Connecticut Mutual.

Deftly written, fast moving, and interesting with a carefully compiled index, this book will appeal to both the layman and the professional.

Entering the insurance field after graduation,Mr. Baketel was a New York broker for 15years before spending 27 as an AgencyManager in Philadelphia. He now heads hisown firm specializing in employee benefitplanning.