“Mr Graham’s style is fluent and unpretentious. He arranges his narrative clearly and tells it vividly. He lets his hero speak for himself where possible, and where he has to summarize or assign motives, we have no doubt he correctly interprets Penn’s attitude.”
“The writer, indeed, is at home with his reader and addresses to him many asides bearing upon the interests of the present hour, as for example upon the Society for psychical research and the maxims of George Bernard Shaw. But the interest of the book will centre for most readers in the account of the ‘Holy experiment’ in Pennsylvania, where an attempt was made to order a society on the generous and humane principles which Penn laid down.”
GRAHAM, STEPHEN.Priest of the ideal.*$1.60 (1½c) Macmillan 17-25855
A piece of fiction that has drawn largely upon the imagination of the writer rather than upon the world of facts. It represents the clash between modern material greed and early church mysticism. An American, representing a syndicate with some billions of dollars to spend, approaches the English in this state of mind: “As a result of the expense of war you English are now much poorer, we Americans are rich. You must be ready to sell certain things to raise money.” His hope is to buy out of England’s superfluity of castles, abbeys, monuments, historical buildings, etc., enough to serve as a much needed background for the new American race. In company with a wandering priest the American visits objects of his quest, learning meantime from the lips of this idealist that “there is nothing in England which has been outlived and which, therefore, could be sold or given away; that it was futile to covet the spiritual background of England, the only way to acquire material things that symbolize ideals is to fight for the ideals.”
“We hardly think the author has hit upon the literary form appropriate to his idea or his own capacities.”
“In a sense, Mr Graham’s ‘priest of the ideal’ is merely another of those pseudo-Christs whom every modern novelist seems to feel free tocreate in his own image; and the action in which he is concerned is very tenuous and impalpable indeed.” H. W. Boynton
“In Mr Graham, there is a voice as fearless if not as exceptional as Tolstoy’s. His book is, in fact, a review of England through Russian eyes, in Russian terms.”
“Some of the descriptions are well done, but the book as a whole is tiresome, and its religious mysticism is more than slightly touched with hysteria. There is not a single character in it who is real for an instant, and while there are a few interesting bits of comment, they are not numerous.”
“The romance repays perusal if only for the exquisite delicacy of style and the high level of its spiritual perception.”
“The strength of the book lies, not in the actuality of its characters or in any exciting stir of incident, but in its handling of the vital problem which is ever present and never completely solved—the conduct of our daily lives. We have one very minor and incidental point to urge against Mr Graham before we finish: he owes it to himself to pay more attention to the rhythm of his style. Some of his most impressive passages are spoiled by the suggested lilt of a verse metre.”
“In its sluggish, eventless speculativeness, it is a Russian kind of a book. Only a Russian would have done it far better. It is Mr Graham’s first novel—if, indeed, it can be classified as a novel—and, one believes, his first complete failure.”
“A book into which the author has poured his thoughts and feelings as they came to him, with more care for their immediate expression than for the form of the whole. Yet the reader may fairly ask himself how much of his dissatisfaction—his sense of having looked up and not been fed, but swollen with wind and mist—may be due to some lack of time and opportunity which compelled Mr Graham to be careless of the whole. ... If it is inconsistent, self-contradictory, vague, and here and there (doubtless owing to that lack of time and opportunity at which we have hinted) nothing else than flabby, it is bright with beautiful thoughts and warm with a passion for beautiful living.”
GRAHAM, STEPHEN.Russia in 1916. il*$1.25 (4½c) Macmillan 914.7 17-6752
The author believes that the people of the two allied countries, Great Britain and Russia, should keep in touch with one another, and publishes this little book of impressions in the interests of a better understanding. He writes of: A journey to Ekaterina; The dark haven; The new Archangel; The cost of living; Life in the country; A Russian countess; Russian literature in 1916: Without vodka, beer, or wine, etc.
“There is neither insight nor foresight in this ‘little book of the hour.’” Abraham Yarmolinsky
“A slender volume of less than two hundred pages, but it reveals, as always in everything Mr Graham writes, the ability to understand Russia and a skill at making her understood by the people of other nations.” E. F. E.
“The information contained is of precisely the sort that the average reader is most eager for.”
Reviewed by L: S. Friedland
“Slight, but based on three seasons’ personal observations.”
“There is nevertheless much here which the practical reader will find of uncommon interest. The descriptions of Ekaterina and Archangel are admirable. The world has been waiting for just the kind of knowledge regarding Russia’s new Arctic port that Mr Graham gives us.”
“Discount the politics and the war prophecies, and much that is genuinely revelatory and illuminating does emerge. ... His picture of the mood in which Russia accepts the war will endure. Even at the risk of displeasing the western political radicals Mr Graham should not be frightened from his attempts to convey to us the religious background of Russia. He can bring out the shadows and spiritual chiaroscuro of the thrilling panorama of revolution.” H. S.
“When Stephen Graham splutters: ‘The Russia which Gorky attacks is just that which is spiritually interesting to us in England—the mystical and impractical Russia,’ he reveals himself a downright dilettante, an epicurean, an ‘intellectual’ gourmand.” D: Rosenstein
“An entertaining record of his experiences, although naturally it is hardly a work of permanent value.”
“He belongs to that class of English writers who took it upon themselves to whitewash the Russian autocracy and so misrepresent all those who had fought against it for more than half a century. I do not believe that anybody cares to know now anything about the devotion of the Russian people to Czar Nicholas II, or about his angelic disposition and his artistic soul.” H.
“Mr Graham’s style, often slipshod and careless, occasionally, under the inspiration of deep feeling, rises to a height of real beauty.” W: L. Phelps
GRAHAME-WHITE, CLAUDE, and HARPER, HARRY.Air power; naval, military, commercial, il*$3 Stokes 623.7 (Eng ed War17-85)
“The authors regard the greatest lesson of the war as being that in the future a nation which dominates the aerial highways will dominate also those of the land and sea, and that a dominion of the air must mean, ultimately, the dominion of the world. They illustrate this view in a series of chapters dealing with the war in the air, problems in construction, after-war policy, factors of safety (the phrase is used in more than the engineering sense), popularizing travel by air, laws of the air, and the commercial era of flight. They draw an alluring picture of the time when a man will be able to dine one evening in New York and the next in London, and when aerial excursions will be possible at rates which will put them within the reach of all.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“The programme outlined is scarcely ever outside the bounds of possibility, but views on aviation will have changed greatly long before the programme is completed.”
GRANT, ARTHUR.[2]On the wings of the morning.*$2 Dutton 828
“Echoes of George Borrow, of Gilbert White, of Richard Jefferies sound forth from the pages of Mr Grant’s book of essays. As he journeys ‘On the wings of the morning’ into the heart of historic Britain he sees there the glory of her past and the beauty of her present. ... Every corner of the island whence has arisen a mighty empire contains its historic scenes, and in every hill and valley is to be found something quaint, something picturesque and something of alluring grandeur. Much of all this Mr Grant has witnessed and much of it he records in his book. And through it all runs an undercurrent of thought that reflects the spirit of the day in which it is written, that reveals how constantly in all our minds is the present fighting of Britain and her many Allies ‘for God and the right, for a world-peace that can only come through sacrifice.’”—Boston Transcript
“His book should be received with appreciation by those familiar with the places named and their literary associations, and attract many others to enjoy them.”
“The linking of people with places, and of places with people, gives to Mr Grant’s essays one of their principal charms.” E. F. E.
GRANT, MADISON.Passing of the great race; or, The racial basis of European history, maps*$2 (4c) Scribner 572 16-22372
For descriptive note see Annual for 1916.
“The book contains much solid scientific and historical truth set forth with dignity and clearness, although often with a lack of coherence. It affords evidence of minute and careful study, even though the author never cites his authority for particular statements and supplies but a limited bibliography in the appendix. ... But the ‘Passing of the great race’ is not so much an objective scientific treatise as a carefully reasoned argument in support of preconceived convictions. ... The argument of the book must stand for what it is worth. To the present reviewer it is unconvincing, partly because it rests on debatable assumptions, partly because the method of the argument seems itself unsound. ... His determinations often rest on the most questionable evidence. ... Mr Grant’s book can hardly be regarded as an important contribution to historical science. Its dogmatic assurance and its partizanship impair its value to learning. Its main thesis is not established, and, in the present state of scholarship, is not capable of establishment. For guidance in matters relating to European race problems American students of history will continue to depend, as they have done for nearly twenty years, on Ripley’s solid and discriminating ‘Races of Europe.’” A. B. S.
“Brevity often forces a more dogmatic opinion than the author probably holds, but so many extreme statements are made that the reader often wonders what evidence there is. Little mention is made of other writers, and even in the bibliography the names of Ammon, Lapouge, Reibmayr, Schallmaier, who have advocated similar claims, and opponents like Finot and Novicow, are omitted. In spite of many defects the position of the author has much to commend it. The volume should be studied by all who are interested in the future of our own country and in democracy at large.” C. K.
“The migrations of the three races during different periods are illustrated by a series of striking maps.”
“We had thought that this species of race ecstasy, this enthusiasm for laying stress on the racial basis of European history, with which the name of Houston Stewart Chamberlain is associated, was going out of fashion, even in Germany. But that a writer in democratic America should give currency to these doctrines is passing strange.”
“Mr Madison Grant echoes the absurdities of Mr Houston Chamberlain.” H. M. Kallen
“Mr Grant’s account of the distribution of the different races is interesting and no doubt as accurate as such speculations can be made, but the superstructure of theory and policy which he builds thereon must be judged by each reader for himself.”
“We do not recall any other single work which presents, within the limited space of one volume, so comprehensive a survey of heredity, eugenics, racial characteristics, ruling dynasties, and the steady elimination of the unfit.”
“Three brief chapters present a résumé of our knowledge of prehistoric man in the stone and bronze ages. It is interesting to note that the detailed treatment begins where Professor Osborn’s recent monumental work on ‘Men of the old stone age’ leaves off, and in certain ways may be regarded as directly supplemental. ... Slight reference is made to the European war, but the application of all the data which Mr Grant has assembled to the causes, psychology, and ultimate results of this conflict is plainly evident. This and the intelligent attention which is directed to the unparalleled mixing of races in our own country are the two most potent memories of a perusal of this volume. ... A bibliography and thorough index round out a volume of marked originality and considerable interest.”
“For our part, we should like to have the facts examined with much more care than Mr Grant has paid them before accepting his doleful predictions as true, or even probable.”
Reviewed by E. G. Balch
“All that can be said of some of the statements brought forward by Mr Grant as scientific evidence of his thesis is that they are incorrect.”
“Many readers will question Grant’s conclusions, and some will resent them. ... Yet his statement of the problem demands serious consideration, and his sketch of the development and expansion of the Nordic races is an excellent historical résumé. ... The whole lesson of biology is that America is seriously endangering her future by making fetishes of equality, democracy, and universal education. They are of great value, but only when they have good hereditary material upon which to work. The books of Morgan, Conklin, and Grant all show that we must drastically revise our immigration policy and must strive even more diligently to perpetuate the rapidly diminishing type of strong-willed idealists who have been the country’s chief leaders.” Ellsworth Huntington
GRAY, VIOLET GORDON.[2]Margery Morris. il*$1.25 (1½c) Penn 17-29733
Margery Morris, the young heroine of this story for girls, comes from California to spend a summer with her grandfather in a small Quaker village in New Jersey. An unknown boy cousin meets her at the train and tells her that her grandfather is away. Margery, who is something of a little snob, finds it necessary to adapt herself to the simple living of a plain old-fashioned farm house. She learns to like the two boys who call themselves her cousins; makes friends with two jolly girls, and only later learns that thru confusion of names she has come to visit in the wrong house. Other books in the series are promised.
GREEN, JOHN RICHARD.Short history of the English people; rev. and enl., with epilogue by Alice S. Green. maps*$2 Am. bk. 942 16-18300
“The present one-volume edition now given to the public contains all the material except the illustrations in the four-volume edition of 1887 and, in addition, some modifications in the history of Ireland which Mrs Green believes her husband would have incorporated had he been living. They are due to new material discovered in the last thirty-five years since the ‘Short history’ was published.”—Outlook
“The ‘Epilogue’ is a summary written with a fervid eloquence which makes it in its own way singularly attractive. But the fervour sometimes leaves the facts obscure; for instance, no one who did not know the sequence of events could extract the truth from the summary of the Crimean war; whilst an account of the mutiny which does not mention John Lawrence and has but a bare reference to his brother can only be described as a curiosity. The ‘Epilogue’ is not indeed a ‘history,’ and as a review it is written with a definite outlook, which if stimulating and suggestive, makes it hardly suitable for instruction to those who are not already fairly familiar with the facts.” A.
“In the latest reprint Mrs J. R. Green has added an epilogue of one hundred and seventy-two pages covering the century from 1815 to 1914. A spirited sketch of the social changes and of the imperial and foreign problems which have confronted us, it is as dogmatic, as biassed, and almost as entertaining as J. R. Green’s own work, though he might not have given so much prominence to the so-called Celtic influence in British politics. He would certainly have described the causes of the war more clearly and more accurately, instead of veiling Germany’s direct responsibility for the conflict. An historian of the English people ought, we think, to be perfectly definite about this important matter. Mrs Green handles it gingerly, as if she doubted our good faith and our intense desire to keep the peace.”
“The keenest-eyed literary critic would find it difficult to determine from internal evidence where J. R. Green laid down the pen and Mrs Green has taken it up. There is the same picturesque style, the same gift of epigrammatic expression and faculty for seizing the essential detail, the same command of apt quotation, the same imaginative intuition, broad outlook on human affairs, and sympathy with national and democratic movements.”
GREEN, LILIAN (BAYLISS) (MRS ALBERT RANDOLPH GREEN).Effective small home. il*$1.50 McBride 640 17-8603
The author was formerly editor of the Little house department of the Ladies’ Home Journal. To help those who live on small incomes and in small quarters is her aim in this book. Part 1 is personal. In it she writes of her own varied experiences in housekeeping. Part 2 is amplified from material prepared for the Ladies’ Home Journal, and has chapters on: Suggestions for furnishing, Lighting fixtures, The hanging of curtains, Floor coverings, etc. In addition there are appendixes giving suggestions for cleaning, recipes, etc. There is a short bibliography and an index.
“The book is full of personality, has some charm and many suggestive ideas. It makes a contribution in regard to the treatment of apartments and very small rooms. It contains no principles or standards by which to decorate, and is a record of ingenuity and taste rather than of principles and artistic standards.”
“A practical book for young housekeepers of moderate means.”
“A pleasantly personal tone pervades Mrs Green’s contribution.”
“The work points out many short cuts for women who are anxiously striving for beauty in the home.”
GREEN, MARY, pseud. (MRS MARIETTA [MCPHERSON] GREENOUGH).Better meals for less money.*$1.25 Holt 641.5 17-13798
“It is the plan of this book,” says the author, “to include a variety of (1) recipes which require only a small amount of meat; (2) recipes for vegetable dishes which can take the place of meat; (3) recipes for the economical use of cereals, dairy products, and other common inexpensive foods; (4) recipes for breads, cakes, and desserts requiring only a small amount of butter and eggs; and (5) recipes for a few relishes, condiments, and other accessories which lend variety and interest.” The first chapter is devoted to General suggestions for economy.
“The general suggestions for economy are useful but the title is rather misleading as no meals are planned and the book is just another good cook book of selected recipes, well indexed, with an appendix which gives tables of weights and measures, temperature, caloric values, time tables for cooking and a list (2p.) of government publications on foods and cooking.”
“Not intended as a complete guide to cookery, this new book, so admirable in form and contents, presupposes an elementary knowledge of the care and preparation of food, and imparts much knowledge that is not elementary.”
“Altogether this little book is indispensable for owners of small kitchens.”
“We have personally tested many of the recipes for salads and puddings and found them excellent. The author preaches a sort of sensible economy which the housewife can practice with much profit.” M. G. S.
“The preface gives general suggestions for economy—the kind a sensible housewife can really practise.”
“Another good point about the book is the binding, which is of the practical kind that may be handled without soiling.”
GREENE, CARLETON.Wharves and piers; their design, construction and equipment. il*$3 McGraw 627 17-9604
“The book is frankly a catalog of standard designs. There appears little attempt to expand theory, but as a catalog, using that word in its best sense, there is little to be wished for. The main section, is devoted to the structure of the piers and wharves themselves. The following and less exhaustive part takes up the design of sheds for wharves and piers and a final and still less ambitious section is devoted to cargo-handling machinery. Finally, a number of detail costs afford some general information on that important subject.”—Engin News-Rec
“In no branch of engineering have there been so many strides forward in the past decade as in the design and construction of wharves and piers for harbors. ... In spite of this great advance, or perhaps because of it, the literatureon the subject is most meager. Practically everything that can be found on recent wharf and pier construction must be sought in the files of technical magazines and society publications. Mr Greene has, therefore, done a considerable service for the profession in collecting the many types which appear in his new book.”
“The drawings, most of them dimensioned, are clearly executed.”
“‘The subject of pile-driving has not been treated at length in this book.’”
GREENE, FREDERICK STUART, ed. Grim thirteen.*$1.50 (1½c) Dodd 17-23978
Edward J. O’Brien, editor of “The best short stories of 1916,” in his introduction, tells us that six people, four writers, two critics and a publisher, talking over the short story became convinced that “a grim story, no matter whether it was a literary masterpiece or not, was hoodooed.” They then decided to select and publish in book form thirteen good stories that had been repeatedly rejected by American magazines. All of these stories were praised by editors who rejected them. Contents: The day of Daheimus, by Vance Thompson; Rain, by Dana Burnet; Old fags, by Stacy Aumonier; The head of his house, by Conrad Richter; The Abigail Sheriff memorial, by Vincent O’Sullivan; Easy, by Ethel Watts Mumford; The draw-keeper, by Wadsworth Camp; The razor of Pedro Dutel, by Richard Matthews Hallet; Knute Ericson’s celebration, by Robert Alexander Wason; The parcel, by Mrs Belloc Lowndes; Back o’ the yards, by Will Levington Comfort and H. A. Sturtzel; The end of the game, by William Ashley Anderson; The black pool, by Frederick Stuart Greene.
“They form a protest against the commercial standards which have shown these writers that ‘some of their finest imaginative work could not achieve magazine publication without sensible modification.’ Not written for immature minds.”
“Capt. Greene has proved all he has undertaken to prove and suggested very potent reasons for the freeing of our creative literature from the shackles at present imposed upon it.” D. L. M.
“There is not one story in the volume that is mechanical, mediocre, or of the merely competent order that suffices for our monthly fiction. And what is similarly surprising is the distinguished style, the poetic perception, the high literary quality revealed in most of the rejected thirteen.” L: Untermeyer
“There is not a story with the indubitable touch of genius to lift it from the ‘grim’ to the tragic. Half of them are written in the same style, the American Magazine or, let us say, Saturday Evening Post style, and might have been written by the same brisk, ingenious hand.”
“The circumstances under which the book is spun out at the public over the heads of the rejecting editors are an indictment of the magazine editors of the whole country. ... And it is a mighty good thing that somebody has had the spirit and the confidence in the American public to make such a test of its intelligence. ... Some of the thirteen stories reach a much higher level of literary quality than do others. For it is easy to see, with some of them, that gruesome theme or unhappy ending was not the sole reason for their untoward fate in magazine offices. But some of them are so true in their picturing of life, so fine in their artistry, and so high in their literary quality that one marvels at their continued rejection.”
“In tone and atmosphere the stories must be classified with that grimly imaginative school of which Poe was the master. Still each plot is distinctly original. Each one is vivid, thrilling and direct, and many of them display a keen intuition and a sense of psychological values.”
GREENE, HARRY PLUNKET.Pilot, and other stories. il*$2 (5c) Macmillan 16-22978
“Pilot,” the longest of the six stories in this book, is the story of a dog. Pilot is an English dog with a fondness for poaching, and his adventures are many and amusing. The remaining stories are about children and animals; among them there is one story for fishermen. Bight of the illustrations are in color.
“Our notice must not end without a few words of praise for the admirable illustrations of Mr H. J. Ford, so long and honourably associated with the fairy books of the late Andrew Lang. Here, however, he shows a range and versatility for which we were hardly prepared, and has collaborated with the author with most delightful results, whether his aim has been realistic, grotesque, or fantastic.”
“The story of his doings is so entertainingly and humorously told that the book should prove interesting to readers of all ages.”
GREENE, HOMER.Flag.il*$1.25 (2c) Jacobs 17-22701
In a school-boy snowball battle, one of the two leaders wraps himself in the American flag as a means of protection in an assault, but his opponent, Penfield Butler, tears it from him and it is trampled and torn under their feet. Made to feel that his act was unpardonable, called “Benedict Arnold” by his companions, Penfield is forced to leave school. Thereafter he goes branded, is refused admission to the national guard, but finally takes part in the European war and thereby regains his good name.
“Marred by sentimentality.”
“A wholesome story of military patriotism for boys told in a manly, straightforward style.”
GREENE, KATHLEEN CONYNGHAM.Little boy out of the wood, and other dream plays.*75c Lane 822 16-23242
A collection of fanciful little plays for reading. The titles are: The little boy out of the wood; Night watch; The poppy seller; The first Christmas eve; The vision splendid; The princess on the road; The two bad fairies. A note says, “Of the plays that form this book only one—‘The two bad fairies’—was written for a stage. The other six are dreams.”
“Recalling in the delicate allegory Olive Schreiner’s ‘Dreams’ comes ‘The little boy out of the wood.’ These are ‘dream plays,’ tragic and comic, and exquisite in workmanship.”
“Arranged for reading aloud.”
GREENOUGH, CHESTER NOYES, and HERSEY, FRANK WILSON CHENEY.English composition. il*$1.40 Macmillan 808 17-15557
“Professor Greenough and Mr Hersey have prepared a most interesting text-book on ‘English composition,’ What they term ‘mechanics,’ that is troublesome points of grammar, punctuation, spelling are touched in short final chapters.The main chapters are on exposition, argument, description, narration, structure, with clear and suggestive discussion of the topics, and fine examples. The first chapter on gathering and weighing of material is especially to be noted, for it gives the pupil all sorts of practical, helpful hints that students must usually work out for themselves slowly at great waste of time or never work out at all.” (Ind) Dr Greenough is professor of English at Harvard university.
“Occasionally a volume appears which from its preface onward towers above the jumble of its competitors. Such a volume is this ‘English composition.’ The arrangement of the contents is unexceptionable. Better even than the arrangement, however, is the excellence of the presentation.”
“If a criticism were to be made it would be that the authors treat composition as chiefly an exhibition of cleverness. They send a chiel out into the world notebook in hand and eye alert chiefly for the technical tricks of the trade. ... Beyond such technical matters a book on composition is perhaps not bound to go: within this field it would be difficult to find one that functions more efficiently; it makes one cast about at once for a sharp pencil. An interesting concession to the present interest in the spoken word, the book contains a rather prim little chapter on pronunciation.”
“The first work of its kind to bring the student ample descriptive extracts from famous writers illustrated with photographs of the actual scenes described by them.”
GREGOR, ELMER RUSSELL.White Otter.il*$1.35 (2c) Appleton 17-8586
A sequel to “The red arrow.” White Otter is the young Sioux who was the hero of that tale. In this story he is again pitted against his tribal enemies, the Pawnees. In a great battle his grandfather, the Sioux chieftain, is taken prisoner and White Otter, following on the enemy’s trail, sets him free. It is a story of Indian life before the coming of the white man.
GREGOROVITSH, DIMITRY.Fishermen.*$1.50 (1½c) McBride
Dimitry Gregorovitsh was a contemporary of Tourgeniev. Angelo S. Rappoport, in the introduction to this novel, says that he is rightly considered one of the best exponents of the life of the Russian working people. The present story, here translated into English for the first time, centers about the family of Glyeb Savinitsh, a fisherman. Vania, Glyeb’s youngest son, and Grishka, an adopted child, are boys of the same age who grow up together, sharing alike in the family fortunes. Indeed, in spite of his shortcomings, Grishka seems to hold first place in the affections of the father. Knowing that Dounia, the girl both young men come to love, has given herself to Grishka, Vania takes his foster brother’s place as conscript in the army. Grishka, left free, marries Dounia and wrecks her happiness as he does that of the family that has sheltered him. An evil influence in the story is that of Zakhar, a product of the factory system, which, at the time that the book was written, was only beginning to invade the rural villages of Russia.
“Grigorovich lacked deep psychological insight; he was more of a careful landscapist and an ethnographic observer than a vivisector of the human soul. Only in exceptional cases did he succeed in depicting a boldly outstanding character, as, for instance; in the old fisherman Glyeb.”
“Though ‘The fishermen’ has a slightly oldfashioned air about it, it is an air of sentiment rather than of sentimentality, and gives to realism the balance necessary to save it from becoming naturalism. ‘The fishermen’ reminds one of George Sand’s pastoral tales; it possesses a charm which is not glamour and a truth which is not all ugliness.”
“The author stands only in the second or third rank of Russian literature, has no life-message as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have, and the picture which he gives of Russian life is not distinctive. ... The patriarchal life of Glyeb’s family ought to be interesting, but one never gets into the midst of it, and evidently the author himself is an outsider, having only a partial sympathy. ... The translation is without charm, and if the author is prolix the translator emphasizes the defect.”
GREGORY, JACKSON.Wolf breed.il*$1.40 (2c) Dodd 17-25854
The North woods provide the setting of a tale of avarice, jealousy and passion among men who, for greed of gold or refuge from the law, collect there in strange ill-assortment. Among the habitues of a frontier settlement house is No Luck Drennen who had grown hard, cynical, and evil-minded thru loss of faith in men he had trusted. He knows where to find gold; others know that he knows. Drennen becomes suspicious that every body is trying to pry into his secret and wrest from him his prospects. He includes in his suspicions a southern girl who mysteriously appears at the settlement. Woman hater tho he be and sharp of tongue he finds a match in Ygerne Bellaire whose clever fencing wins the admiration and love of the “lone wolf.” Treachery and misunderstanding make their romance a difficult one but they find a way out to happiness.
“It may be summed up as a tale of red blood pumped up by machine.”
“The tale of these fights and entanglements, the thrill and the zest of it, is well told. It is like nothing so much as the novelization of one of the famous ballads of Robert W. Service.”
“It is a lively and quite impossible tale.”
GREGORY, RICHARD ARMAN.Discovery; or, The spirit and service of science. il*$1.75 Macmillan 504 (Eng ed A16-1381)
“The spirit in which men of science devote themselves to the investigation and understanding of nature, the results of their discoveries in the increase of man’s power—these are the themes of the book.” (Sat R) “In his references to the life and work of men like Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Huxley, Kelvin, and Pasteur, the author illustrates the spirit of the discoverer—his fanaticism for the sanctity of truth, his disinterestedness and impersonal detachment, his delight in his work, and his cautious yet alert recognition of the possibility of error. ... Much of the book is an eloquent commentary on the text: ‘The future of our civilisation depends upon the widening spread and deepening hold of the scientific habit of mind.’” (Nature)
“The essays, twelve in number, are readable, concrete in their treatment, and meant for the layman.”
Reviewed by J. A. Thomson
“The appearance of this book could not well have been more timely.” T. B. Robertson
GREW, EDWIN SHARPE, and others.Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener; his life and work for the empire. 3v il*25s 6d Gresham pub. co., London
A life of Lord Kitchener complete in three volumes. “The first volume deals with Kitchener’s early years, his work in Palestine, and the Egyptian campaign. The second volume begins with the Fashoda incident, and then deals with the Boer war.” (Ath) “The third volume treats of the present war, of Lord Kitchener’s magnificent work in raising the new armies, and of his death in the ‘Hampshire’ on June 5th last.” (Spec)
“A useful and careful piece of work. ... At the same time we should welcome a little more biography and a little less history.”
“Carefully written and contains a good deal of new matter.”
“Cooperative biography is not an ideal arrangement, but in this case the chapters blend surprisingly well, and the whole narrative flows with an ease which makes it a pleasure to read throughout.”
GREY, ZANE.Wildfire.il*$1.35 (1½c) Harper 17-2028
Wildfire, an untamed red stallion, is the hero of this story. Lucy Bostil, the pride of her father’s heart and a girl who doesn’t know the meaning of fear, is its heroine. Lin Slone, who tracks Wildfire up from Utah and captures him, is the horse’s nominal owner, but Lucy is the real owner, for it is to her the beautiful wild horse gives his heart. Lucy rides him once in a race against her father’s favorite, Sage King. She rides him again in a race for life against prairie fire. It is an exciting story of the days when Colorado was less settled and civilized than it is today.
“More sensational than some of his other stories.”
“The story would make an excellent foundation for a moving-picture scenario. But still, ‘Wildfire’ possesses certain virtues of its own—the virtue of being straight, clean, and exciting, and the virtue of lacking the psychological sickliness and the maunderings of much of our third-rate fiction.”
“After one has followed the story even with intensity, it fades a little in the mind in the days that come after, while one still remembers the atmosphere of the book or the characters.” E: E. Hale
“Will add nothing to the author’s reputation. It lacks the atmosphere of his early novels and falls short of their restrained power. It is a shallow and sensational story.”
“It is not like other books. It’s a horse story and—actually—unique.” M. A. Hopkins
“Compares favorably with Mr Grey’s best stories.”
GRIBBLE, FRANCIS HENRY.Women in war.*$2.75 Dutton 920.7 (Eng ed 16-23097)
“This book, so eminently topical, was yet written, Mr Gribble tells us, before the world-war was talked of. It is an interesting account of individual women or groups of women noted for deeds of bravery, adventurous exploits, or for some special association with war from the time of Boadicea to that of Florence Nightingale. In an epilogue, in which Mr Gribble endeavours to bring the record somewhat up to date, he tells us that he was interned in Germany, and has something to say of German women in war time. ... The epilogue also records the experiences of some of the women who have served in the Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies—‘no fewer than twenty of them in the Voluntary Ukraine legion alone’—and of the women doctors and nurses who went through the Serbian campaign.”—Spec