Reviewed by L. E. Robinson
“An inspiring and absorbing book.”
“That any new thing could be said about Lincoln seemed impossible until Mr Rothschild’s new volume appeared. Of Mr Lincoln’s honesty other biographies have told us, but in rather a passing way: here we have the fact set forth in clear detail, with an amazing array of proofs, from widely scattered sources, exciting wonder how they could all be obtained.”
“A unique method of treatment of Lincoln’s life and character.”
“The steadily running stream of anecdote finally becomes somewhat tiresome, yet the cumulative effect is undeniably impressive.”
ROWLES, WILLIAM F.Garden under glass. il*$2 Lippincott 716.3 17-29979
“Mr Rowles gives the data of greenhouse construction, from cold frames and pits to the finished structure, illustrating his descriptions with many diagrams and drawings. ... He divides his subject into six sections: The construction of glass houses and frames; popular greenhouse plants; fruit under glass; vegetables under glass and greenhouse work. The concluding section holds miscellaneous data: the construction and use of amateur frames; the character of greenhouse pests and the best methods for their extermination; a ‘greenhouse calendar’; a glossary, etc.”—Boston Transcript
“An excellent exposition of English greenhouse methods.”
ROXBURGH, RONALD FRANCIS.International conventions and third states.*$2.50 Longmans 341.2 17-22005
This monograph is published as one of the Contributions to international law and diplomacy, edited by L. Oppenheim, who says that it deals with a problem that has never before been made the subject of thorough research. Authors of different nationalities have approached the subject with a biased viewpoint. “They take it for granted that the principles and rules of international law are to be construed and interpreted according to views upheld by their municipal law and their national jurisprudence.” Mr Roxburgh covers the subject in seven chapters: Introduction; Third parties and contracts in municipal law; The opinions of publicists; Treaties unfavorable to third states; Treaties beneficial to third states; The influence of custom: Exceptional cases. The work was prepared in the years 1913 and 1914, “in accordance with the rules governing the Whewell international law scholarships in the University of Cambridge,” but has since been revised and largely rewritten. A list of authorities referred to is included.
“It must be confessed that the author’s treatment of his subject is somewhat sketchy and not at all points conclusive. ... It might perhaps have been a better arrangement to have made the study of municipal law follow rather than precede the precedents of diplomatic practice. ... But these are minor points and they do not prevent us from agreeing with the learned editor that the author has ‘brought together a considerable amount of material, and that he has come to very valuable conclusions which require thorough examination and consideration.’” C. G. Fenwick
“Excellent index.” F.
RUGG, HAROLD ORDWAY.Statistical methods applied to education. (Riverside textbooks in education) il*$2 Houghton 370 17-29584
A textbook for students of education in the quantitative study of school problems, prepared by an assistant professor of education in the University of Chicago. It has been written for the average school administrator limited in mathematical equipment. The writer believes that it is necessary to equip school men with a thorough-going knowledge of statistical methods as a background for discriminating use in improvement of their school practice. A preliminary chapter explains The use of statistical methods in education. Other chapters deal with collection and classification of educational facts and data, the method of averages, the measurement of variability, the frequency curve, the use of tabular and graphic methods in reporting school facts.
“The bibliography is remarkably well chosen and annotated and covers a wide range of studies on school administration. Mr Rugg’s book is a real contribution to the science of education, and one ventures to prophesy that it will be found on the desk of every progressive school man in the country.” P. C. Stetson
Reviewed by P. C. Stetson
RUHL, ARTHUR BROWN.White nights and other Russian impressions. il*$2 (4c) Scribner 914.7 17-13589
The first chapter, The road to Russia, gives Scandinavian impressions. The author tells how the people of Norway and Sweden look on the war, describes Stockholm on a sunny morning, and gives an account of a visit with Ellen Key. The Russian chapters that follow are: White nights; At the front; The Moscow art theatre; A look at the Duma; Russia’s war prisoners; A Russian cotton king; Down the Volga to Astrakhan; Volga refugees; Rumania learns what war is. There are over twenty photographic illustrations.
“Very well written and readable.”
“Mr Ruhl is perhaps the best equipped, in sympathetic understanding, charm of style, and intellectual preparation, of the American journalists now in Russia. ... Throughout the trip Mr Ruhl keeps America in mind, and his contrasts and comparisons with life in our own land help to throw into relief the manners and customs of a foreign people.” L: S. Friedland
“His description of the strong pro-German feeling in Sweden as compared with the almost as strong pro-Ally sentiment in Norway and his glance at the causes for the difference will illuminate the situation in Scandinavia for many American readers.”
“Mr Ruhl is a skilled reporter, and here he has a worthy subject. His book makes no bid for permanency, but as a presentation of varied aspects of Russia it has not been bettered since the war started—praise which does not consist wholly in the fact that Russia has not been ‘written up’ so extensively as have most of her allies and enemies.”
RUMSEY, FRANCES.Mr Cushing and Mlle du Chastel.*$1.40 (1c) Lane 17-11701
While one’s American instincts lead one to side with the American husband, it is a tribute to the author’s power that she more than once forces the reader to see the situation from the point of view of the French wife. After their marriage Paul Cushing brings Anne-Marie to his New York home. Clashes of temperament are inevitable. The husband’s ideals are more than once shocked by his wife’s insistence on exact materialistic interpretations. Her French bringing up has taught her to overlook what she considers the normal delinquencies of men; but she sees delinquencies where none have existed, and it is on this rock that their marriage breaks. The meeting of the two in Paris, after Anne-Marie, true to her code of conduct, has left her husband to live with another man, brings out definitely the absolute divergence of the two points of view.
“Well written with a limited appeal for sophisticated readers.”
“Seldom have American and Parisian conflicting standards been more cleverly analyzed and contrasted than in this distinctively ‘international’ novel. Seldom have human emotions and values been more convincingly interpreted. ... The story is not for all. But to those who appreciate originality of ideas and perfection ofartistry, its daring plot, the Gallic precision of its premises, its gracious diction and its pitiless logic will bring a unique pleasure.” F. B.
“Worthy of respect and thoughtful perusal.”
“The people are carefully dissected and nonliving intelligences, not human beings.”
RUSSELL, BERTRAND ARTHUR WILLIAM.Political ideals.*$1 (5c) Century 320.4 17-24663
Mr Russell examines our present political ideals, our economic system, the dangers of state socialism, and the proper limits of individual and of national freedom, and concludes that our institutions should lay stress on the creative rather than the possessive impulse in man, that there should be a diminution, if not a total abolition, of rent and interest, that “the state should be the sole recipient of economic rent, while private capitalistic enterprises should be replaced by selfgoverning combinations of those who actually do the work,” that there should be “autonomy within each politically important group, and a neutral authority for deciding questions involving relations between groups,” that “the whole realm of thought and opinion” should be free, but that “in all that concerns possession and the use of force, unrestrained liberty involves anarchy and injustice”; that “the boundaries of states should coincide as nearly as possible with the boundaries of nations,” but that the external relations of states should be decided by “some international instruments of government.” Contents: Political ideals; Capitalism and the wage system; Pitfalls in socialism; Individual liberty and public control; National independence and internationalism.
“A sane and succinct statement of the philosopher’s well known views for individual and community ideals. This is not a book of pacifism and will be stimulating to thoughtful readers in any community.”
Reviewed by F. W. Coker
“We feel that it is around the ideas expressed in this book that the younger generation will rally for a clear faith and a well-grounded hope. Mr Russell has expressed these ideas in his other books. But here they are organized into what is virtually a primer of revolutionary idealism, written with a passionate soberness that stirs the mind as deeply as it moves the heart.” Randolph Bourne
“Many will not accept the war convictions of this noted English philosopher; but they demand respect.”
“Mr Russell’s keen dissection of the evils of modern industrialism and the obstacles to free thought is at least wholesomely disturbing, but we cannot discover in his vague constructive suggestions any well-thought-out plan that can be adjudged practically workable.”
“Mr Russell is almost a Socialist; but he eludes all attempts to pigeonhole him. The danger he sees in the socialist program is the loss of that very freedom for the individual which is thesummum bonumfor all thinkers. Mr Russell predicts that the result of the realization of the present socialist program would be the domination of officialdom and bureaucracy. The answer to the problem is: ‘Autonomy within each politically important group, and a neutral authority for deciding questions involving relations between groups.’ This, of course, is guild socialism, deprived of the anarchistic freedom of the different trades. Mr Russell’s position in the present world crisis must command attention from every Socialist who is open to intelligent and constructive criticism of the socialist movement.” Bertram Benedict
“In ‘Political ideals’ we have Mr Russell at his best. He is still impractical, and he admits the fact. But he is seldom capricious to the point of irresponsibility. In his criticisms of the life of to-day a keen and almost unnaturally disinterested intellect achieves a happy union with ethical courage and the two qualities are fused in a style of the utmost poise and clarity. ... While not entirely friendly to the state, Mr Russell does not abolish the state. On the contrary, he holds that in economic matters the state should exercise wider control than at present; while granting to the individual greater freedom in thought, freedom, religion and ethical questions governed by individual conscience. ... He is a critic of socialism and syndicalism, but his own ideas of ownership and control do not take definite form in this book.”
“In simple language, the five essays contained in this slim volume give the author’s political credo, more fully developed in ‘Why men fight.’ The reconciliation of liberty with government to him is the chief problem in economic and political relationships which must be solved before the world can be made safe and at the same time open to every form of human advancement. ‘Political ideals’ will help the reader who sees all the ruin wrought by capitalism and the possessive motive in world politics, and yet is prevented by fear of the ‘servile state’ from embracing the doctrines of socialism. It gives no new political system, no visionary scheme of revolutionary change, but formulates the philosophic basis for a program of immediate and consecutive reform.” B. L.
RUSSELL, BERTRAND ARTHUR WILLIAM.Why men fight; a method of abolishing the international duel (Eng title, Principles of social reconstruction).*$1.50 (2½c) Century 172.4 17-1513
In this new book Bertrand Russell makes a study of the springs of human conduct. Responsibility for the war is placed by one group of people on the wickedness of the Germans, by another on the tangles of diplomacy and the ambitions of governments. Both groups, Mr Russell thinks, fail to realize the extent to which war grows out of ordinary human nature. “War is accepted by men who are neither Germans nor diplomatists with a readiness, an acquiescence in untrue and inadequate reasons, which would not be possible if any deep repugnance to war were widespread in other nations or classes.” The springs of human activity are impulse and desire, and of these, thinks Mr Russell, impulse is the stronger force. The pacifists are defined by him as “men in whom some impulse to which war is hostile is strong enough to overcome the impulses that lead to war.” What is needed then is a social reconstruction that will set free those impulses that lead to life rather than death. There are chapters on The state; Property; Education; Marriage and the population question; Religion and the churches, etc. In the preface to the London edition the statement is made that the lectures were written in 1915, and delivered in the beginning of 1916.
“A book which it is very difficult to review with fairness: it is a book by a big man, who cares intensely for intellectual freedom and has achieved a European reputation by his work in his own very abstract field, but it is at the same time a book by a man out of heart and out of temper with the world, written hastily, left (as the preface tells us) unrevised, and dealing with a subject on many aspects of which he is ignorant, and on which his training and temperament debar him from writing with real insight. Perhaps the best and most charitable thing to say about it is that it is unworthy of its author.”
Reviewed by Nathaniel Pfeffer
“Particularly for Americans, it contains a warning and a programme, because America is in greatest danger from the evils it denounces, and nearest to attainment of the excellences it urges. It is a handbook for patriots whose concern is the soul of our country.” H. M. Kallen
“The Honorable Bertrand Russell affords perhaps the most striking example in this generation of powerful intellect working in vacuo. ... In his volume entitled ‘Why men fight’ there is very much that is fine and splendid, but this is almost invariably accompanied by a lack of appreciation of the realities of human nature and of life.”
“Like all that Mr Russell writes, these pages are full of stimulating suggestion, of vigorous criticism, and of fresh and original thinking. Yet I venture to predict—as it is, no doubt, safe to do in regard to any writer upon social questions just now—that if, in future years, when the passions of these stormy days are stilled, Mr Russell returns to the topics here discussed, he will handle many of them differently and from a wider point of view.” G. D. Hicks
“His book remains a turning point in constructive social theory.” C. D. Burns
“In no other war book or peace book known to the present reviewer is there to be found so thoroughgoing an investigation of ‘the various influences, social and political,’ which explain why men fight.”
“To read ‘Why men fight’ with any sympathy is to be entranced by the honesty, the concentration, the intelligence, the equilibrium of its author. ... While many of his criticisms are unsparing, none of them is devious or poisoned. The principles of democracy and liberty are frankly and utterly his principles. ... He understands perfectly well that the enemy has to be fought, as the fighting insect has to be crushed. ... Many passages in ‘Why men fight’ indicate that Mr Russell is neither omniscient nor entirely consistent. He seems to dispose of incompatibilities easily, and yet to demand radical changes.” F. H.
“A much more solid piece of work than his previous book on ‘Justice in war time.’ Here he has his feet partly on the ground, and is seemingly much more inclined to examine the economic foundations of society.” J. W.
“Much of his thinking is of a very radical complexion, although it is individual in its radicalism and is not to be labeled with any existing brand of reform.”
“Bertrand Russell is perhaps the greatest of England’s living thinkers. ... It is just because the impulse to fight which swept this country off its feet when the Maine was blown up, so easily becomes uncontrollable that this calm, clear voice from the midst of the conflict bears a particularly timely message for the United States.” Robert Lynd
“Although Mr Bertrand Russell lives in a political solitude as lonesome as that of Coleridge’s ‘Ancient mariner,’ he is manifestly able, to a limited extent, to combine with other groups on the vivifying basis of a number of common hatreds. ... Mr Bertrand Russell has written a thoroughly mischievous book, and it is all the more mischievous because, being a cultivated man, he has at his service a felicitous literary style which may possess some attractions for the unwary minds of prejudiced partisans and loose thinkers.” [Earl of] Cromer
“Much that Mr Russell says in criticizing the social order will be accepted as true by the philosophical thinker, who will, however, see that Mr Russell has failed to do any constructive reasoning that might lead to improvement. ... Mr Russell’s book is written with his wellknown brilliancy and force, but one fears that few persons will be able to read it through with patience. Mr Russell is too individual to agree at all points with the ‘philosophical anarchists,’ but his reasoning runs in that direction.”
“To have said these things now, to have given fearless and eloquent utterance to ideas vaguely formulated and uncoordinated in other minds, has given to Bertrand Russell an intellectual leadership which will win him crowns both of laurel and of thorn.” Bruno Lasker
“In the chapter on war is matter for the meditation of the pacifist as well as the boisterous patriot. ... It is not a convincing book. The author has too many grievances with the social world as it is to be fair to it or wise, but it is a book to stir and stimulate and promote that ‘creative impulse’ which it extols.”
RUSSELL, GEORGE WILLIAM (A. E., pseud.).National being: some thoughts on an Irish polity.*$1.35 Macmillan 342 (Eng ed 16-22450)
“‘A. E.,’ the author of ‘The national being’ believes that Ireland must be free to work out a destiny for herself among the nations of the earth. He believes that it is possible for her to solve the problem, too, not necessarily by fire and sword—for small nations are seldom wise in taking up the sword—but by the more patient and effective method of making Ireland economically free. When that is accomplished, the political freedom will follow naturally and will mean more than the creation of a new Parliament of stupidity to replace the present body which rules Ireland. ... ‘A. E.’s’ plan for a commercially liberated Ireland begins with a scheme for co-operative production instead of the multifarious and futile competition that exists at present.”—Springf’d Republican
“Beautifully written and inspiring, even if he is somewhat inclined to idealize the situation.”
“His ‘imaginative meditation on the state of Ireland’ is, indeed, addressed to youth. It breathes a note of confidence, of hope triumphant and undismayed, of spiritual adventure and high courage that only the ears of youth can catch. A. E.’s message is not to the politicians of to-day, but to the future nation-builders of Ireland.”
“A suggestive and splendid vision of industrial energy and justice and a plan of universal service for the state.”
“It is in truth a considered summation and codification, at times attaining to a noble eloquence, of the author’s social and political philosophy. ... The writer of this stimulating book has deserved well of his native land. ‘The national being’ is sure, even in the present, to realize the author’s modest hope that it may ‘provoke thought on fundamentals.’”
“We have had in the last two years half a hundred volumes on political organization. Of a certainty we have had few so penetrating or so wise.” H. J. L.
“An outline of the author’s conception of a coöperative commonwealth in Ireland, and a summary of his social and political philosophy. His message implies the establishment of a communal control in agriculture and industry, with an aristocracy of intellect dominating politics and government.”
“We confess to leaving: ‘A. E.’s’ imaginative meditation about the character and future of the state of Ireland with more admiration forthe beauty of the language in which it is set forth than for the practicability of its suggestions.”
“National safety can lie only in national harmony. By stressing and reiterating again and again this point, the author is driving home a lesson which may well be heeded also in other lands.” Bruno Lasker
“There is a class of writers, practical men, whose thought has grown out of experience, who are not only clear expounders but also leaders. Of these the Irish poet, painter, economist, and apostle of cooperation, known as ‘A. E.’ is one. ... He has written a simple, practical, wise, and cheering book. It stands out among the innumerable social books that stream from the presses like a gentle giant among a crowd of clamouring pygmies.”
“The discussion of rural, agricultural, and labor problems have special reference to conditions in Ireland, but they are applicable in considerable degree to any country. It would be a pity if any serious student of these problems should be deprived of this remarkably stimulating and original work, which is notable for its literary quality.”
RUSSELL, GEORGE WILLIAM (A. E., pseud.), and others.Irish home-rule convention.*50c (2c) Macmillan 941.5 17-24526
This book discusses the questions before the Irish convention now sitting in Cork. John Quinn first states his position regarding the European war, then considers the Sinn Fein and the Dublin insurrection, setting forth the English, American and Irish opinions of the insurrection and concluding with two short chapters on G. W. Russell and Sir Horace Plunkett. These seven chapters (ninety-four pages) are called on the title page (but not in the table of contents) “An American opinion.” Following Mr Quinn’s chapters, we have “Thoughts for a convention” (sixty-six pages), by George W. Russell (“A.E.”), who has here “put into shape for publication ideas and suggestions for an Irish settlement which had been discussed among a group whose members represented all extremes in Irish opinion. ... For the spirit, method of presentation and general arguments used, he alone is responsible.” (Note) Mr Russell does not believe in ‘dual government of Ireland by two houses of Parliament,’ but believes in a selfgoverning Ireland, in which Ulster should consent to play her part. The last part of the book consists of Sir Horace Plunkett’s “Defence of the convention” (twenty-three pages) delivered at Dundalk, June 25, 1917.
“John Quinn’s attitude is one of optimism throughout and his presentation of the facts involved is both clarifying and weighty in significance. ... The fundamentals suggested by Mr Russell cover all phases of Irish misunderstanding, and if they could be carried out would work wonders in that much-perplexed country.” H. S. Gorman
“Every lover of Ireland will rejoice that brains so keen and spirits so well disposed and conciliatory are at work on the most difficult problem of the future constitution of the Irish nation.”
“Three intelligent, illuminating, and hopeful views of the Irish question as it stands today.”
“Mr George Russell and Sir Horace Plunkett have provided Irishmen with an opportunity to meet and work together on a plane above the region of official animosities. They have done in the economic life what the creators of the Irish literature have done in the sphere of art-given a common ground to distracted men. And because they have always been aware of the national scope of their work they are peculiarly fitted at this time to address their countrymen on behalf of national unity. The great hope for the future which waits upon the performance of the Home rule convention is that Ireland may have been informed and guided by the spirit which shines out in these appeals.” C: A. Bennett
RUSSELL, GEORGE WILLIAM ERSKINE.Arthur Henry Stanton: a memoir. il*$3.50 Longmans A17-1384
Father Stanton began his ministry more than half a century ago in St Albans, Holborn. “He was opposed to what is referred to as the Establishment, and in early manhood became a member of the Liberation society. The alliance between church and state was hateful to him. He devoted himself to the poor and outcast, and his methods showed a complete disregard of the scientific treatment demanded by social workers.” (The Times [London] Lit Sup) He was not a scholar and never attained either worldly or ecclesiastical dignities, “yet he gained a reputation and wielded an influence such as can only be compared with that of the leaders of the early days of the Tractarian movement, Newman, Froude, Keble, and Pusey. For over fifty years he occupied a unique place in the English church, and this was due solely to the fact that he was himself. ... He figured prominently and as something of a firebrand in the bitterest and most acrimonious ritual disputes of the nineteenth century.” (Sat R) A man of narrow views, quick-tempered and combative, yet a broad humanity and tolerance governed his intercourse with his fellowmen.
“Has special interest because of the insight it affords into the history of the High Church movement in England since 1862.”
“If the Right Hon. G. W. E. Russell wrote his memoir for those who are personally familiar with Father Stanton’s ministry at St Albans, Holborn, or are otherwise deeply concerned in that union of Catholic sacramentalism and radical socialism which Father Stanton so fervidly represented, then the book is none too long; but for the ordinary reader, even for one who can find interest in a pretty strong dose of English ecclesiasticism, there is certainly three times too much of it.”
“We have nothing but admiration for the way in which Mr Russell has compiled the biography. Who combines so curiously well as he the refinements and fastidiousness of the man of letters and the man of the world with the things that spiritually matter?... Wherever possible Mr Russell allows Father Stanton to speak for himself, and the copious extracts from letters, speeches, and sermons have been well selected to present a complete picture of the man.”
“A volume of engrossing interest, and a worthy memorial of a true servant of Christ and humanity.”
“Mr Russell’s narrative is a plain and restrained statement, offering just what is necessary to set each period of Stanton’s life in its proper perspective, and the book gains in force through this absence of discursiveness and laudation.”
RUSSELL, GEORGE WILLIAM ERSKINE.Politics and personalities, with other essays.*$2.25 Scribner 17-25966
“In his latest volume, Mr Russell’s range of subjects extends from Gladstone to ghosts, from casuistry to chivalry and from thrift to tyrannicide. ...Especially does Mr Russell find the nineteenth century prolific in demagogues. ... In his list of demagogues Mr Russell includes Henry Brougham, Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Randolph Churchill and Joseph Chamberlain, the last two being ‘the most consummate demagogues whom England has ever produced.’ And with such famous men in his list, he is certain that Lloyd-George will not be offended when he finds himself included in their company.”—Boston Transcript
“Not all, however, seem to us worth reproducing; and the best can be described in Oliver Wendell Holmes’s phrase about his own later essays as the wine squeezed out of the press after the first juice that runs of itself from the fruit.”
“The book itself is thoroughly engaging. It is one of those comfortable books which one can take up at odd moments with the assurance that they will prove good moments—a book genial without loss of seriousness, thoughtful without being profound, and (grateful virtue) contemporary without being harrowing.”
“Mr G. W. E. Russell’s new book of essays is exceedingly good reading. Whether he writes of politics or persons, he is never dull; and whether he provokes us to argument, agreement, or only to a smile, he is excellent company.”
“Like most of Mr Russell’s books, this new volume is rich in political principle and memory, in details about leading men of immediate past and in constitutional knowledge.”
RUSSELL, WALTER MARVIN.Operation of gas works. il*$2 McGraw 665.7 17-5554
“Mr Russell’s book ... deals with management and operation primarily and with apparatus and construction secondarily. ... First are presented organization and general management, both of plant and men. Then comes chemical control of product. One chapter is devoted to problems peculiar to coal-gas plants, another to water-gas production. Chapter 5 groups the general plant problems—handling materials, keeping cleaned up, fire protection, proper steam and water lines, keeping a good boiler house, etc. The final chapter discusses calorimetry and photometry, and an appendix gives miscellaneous useful tables.”—Engin News-Rec
“Simple and clear instructions for operating standard types of apparatus usually found in small or medium sized gas works.”
“The growing use of manufactured-gas fuel in industrial plants and the increase in number of gas-works owned by manufacturing concerns have brought home to a wide circle of engineers outside the gas industry the lack of concise, easily read treatises on gas-works construction and operation. There has been of course the ‘catechism’ of the Gas institute, but this has not apparently been much utilized outside of the industry. Mr Russell’s book fills at least half the void, although not written with the industrial-plant engineers particularly in view.”
“It is stated that the operations described have all been successfully tried out upon a commercial scale. The most recent developments, however, in mechanical operation, mass carbonization, and water gas operation have been omitted.”
“Author is manager of the Emporia gas company.”
Russian court memoirs, 1914-16; with some account of court, social and political life in Petrograd before and since the war. il*$5 Dutton (12s 6d Jenkins, London) 947 (Eng ed 17-12739)
“The author writes as an avowed monarchist, and he completed his work long before the recent upheaval; but he was intensely alive to the dangers arising from the widespread belief in the existence of German influence in court circles, although he regarded the extent of that influence as being much exaggerated by popular rumour.” (Spec) “Among the topics discussed in the fifteen chapters that make up this volume are:—‘The Tsar and his family,’ ‘The Tsar and his generals,’ ‘The imperial court,’ ‘The Russian foreign office,’ ‘Society of Petrograd,’ ‘Russian women during the war,’ and ‘The press.’” (The Times [London] Lit Sup)
“The book contains many good portraits.”
“Filled with anecdotes, malicious and foolish, about the private life, public appearance, and toilette of these great ones. Gossip of this type collected and placed on the market enables us to gauge the intellect of the pseudonymous writer, and to ask with regret who are the members of the English public who appreciate the fare thus provided.”
Reviewed by Abraham Yarmolinsky
“Some books are like the manna foddered to the Jews in the wilderness, good at night but spoilt the next day. Such is this anonymous book. The Russian revolution put it as completely out of date as if it had been written a hundred years ago.” N. H. D.
“The author makes us see why the Czarina was unpopular and how she has been misunderstood. As a court picture, the book is comprehensive; as a political prophecy it is of far less importance.”
“There is a good chapter on Russian women during the war. ... Our author claims that the Czar was in no way responsible for the war—that he did everything in his power to avert it. ... ‘Russian court memoirs’ is not a literary document. It is gossip, gossip that occasionally has a back-stairs flavor. As a journalistic report of a past era it is of intense interest. The book is sincere, faithfully told from the writer’s viewpoint—and the novelty of that viewpoint makes it all the more readable.”
“There is a sympathetic sketch of the ex-Czar and his children, but the former Czarina is criticized for her association with wandering monks. The illustrations give added interest to these piquant pen sketches.”
“He has a wealth of information and a good deal of pleasant anecdote about all the prominent figures in Petrograd society during the period he covers; but unfortunately his anonymity detracts, to some extent, from the value of his book as an historical document. We cannot give full credence to his version of the subtler influences at work beneath the surface of politics without knowing how much of what he says is genuine ‘inside’ knowledge, and how much is merely what was currently believed at the time.”
“Whatever may be the author’s social or other position in Petrograd, the information at his or her disposal is by no means of the back-stair variety. Not its least agreeable feature is the absence of any tendency to dogmatize or to prophesy.”
Russian year-book, 1916; comp. and ed. by N. Peacock.*10s 6d Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 314.7
“The sixth issue of this standard work of reference. It contains much new matter of value in connexion with the war—a résumé of the economic condition of Russia since the beginning of the war; the new Customs tariff in full detail; the 1916 budget, and much else; with a diary of the war on the Russian front.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
RUTLEDGE, MARICE, pseud.Children of fate. il*$1.35 (3c) Stokes 17-9707
A story of the European war and of Paris in war time. Two lovers, a young French architect and an American girl, are separated by the first call to arms. Pierre, a high-strung, sensitive youth, finds the idea of killing loathsome. To nerve himself up to the task before him, he is forced to make himself believe that he is engaged in a war between good and evil, that he is battling for civilization. Natalie encourages his belief, but even at the moment of parting she has begun to doubt it, and as time goes on she comes to feel more and more that war cannot save civilization, that war cannot end war, that militarism is a hydra-headed monster, that if one of its heads, Germany, be cut off today, another will have grown up tomorrow. But of this she can say nothing to Pierre who depends on her encouragement. Their second parting, after he has been wounded, brings on a crisis in which the girl is forced to tell him the truth about herself and her convictions.
“One observes here the ‘certain condescension’ of complacent feminism toward the dull and errant male, and the somewhat shrill note of the special pleader. But whatever may be thought of this book in its character of tract or brief, its dignity and moving quality as a story are beyond question.” H. W. Boynton
“The book is a piece of passionate special pleading but is well worth reading as such and as a story.”
“This is a book of passionate sincerity, an honest plea, but a special plea; and it does not escape the partiality or even altogether the shrillness, of its order.”
“This ardent pacifist lays the crime of war at the door of woman, holding that without her sanction the world would not have the deadly recurrent spectacle of the ‘maleness run riot’ (to use the phrase of another feminist), which is war.” H. W. Boynton
“While the book brings out vividly some of the more distressful phases of the great war, particularly as regards France, the very fact that France is fighting in defense of her life should preserve that country from the sentiments which the author put in the mouth of his heroine. ... The story is excellently and even powerfully written. It contains germs of thought that will flourish and grow stronger in more peaceful times.”
RUYSBROECK, JAN VAN.Adornment of the spiritual marriage; The sparkling stone; The book of supreme truth; ed. with an introd. and notes by Evelyn Underhill.*$1.75 Dutton 242
“The manuscript of these papers was translated from the Flemish by C. A. Wynschenk-Dom. It presents three of the most important works of the great Flemish mystic, John of Ruysbroeck. He was born in 1273 at the village of Ruysbroeck, between Brussels and Hals, and lived during his entire life in his native province Brabant.” (R of Rs) “As in other works of this kind, the author is concerned with the qualities of the divine nature and with absorption of those qualities into the nature of the devout man. ... ‘Ecstatic absorption in God,’ says Miss Underhill, ‘formed only one side of Ruysbroeck’s religious life. True to his own doctrine of the “balanced career” of action and contemplation as the ideal of the Christian soul, his rapturous ascents toward divine reality were compensated by the eager and loving interest with which he turned toward the world of men.’” (Springf’d Republican)
“An excellent rendering into English of three of the finest writings of Jan of Ruysbroeck, which have never been fully accessible in our own language. Miss Underhill, in an admirable preface, touches on his life and times, and sums up his teaching with great clearness and insight. Ruysbroeck was one of the great constructive mystics who represent and sum up the spiritual knowledge of their own and other times, transfusing and co-ordinating, in the light of their own rich experience and personality, the universal vision of God and of man’s relation to Him. ... The translator has done a great service in opening out to us the experience and teachings of one of the most lofty and spiritual minds of the Christian era.” G. K. S.
“For the student of spiritual philosophy this book is a treasure of undeniable worth.”
“Ruysbroeck is one of the better guides for the modern mystics.”
RYAN, JOHN AUGUSTINE.Distributive justice; the right and wrong of our present distribution of wealth.*$1.50 (1c) Macmillan 331 16-22456
In this volume Father Ryan, author of “The living wage,” “discusses the justice of the processes by which the product of industry is distributed, considering the moral aspects of distribution with reference to the four classes—landowners, capitalists, business men, and laborers. The rights and obligations of these four classes constitute the main subject of the work, while an effort is made to propose reforms that would remove the principal defects of the present system and bring about a larger measure of social justice.” (R of Rs)
“One might, perhaps, criticise other minor features of this excellent book, but such criticism would not detract from its great merit as a logical and lucid exposition of a most important subject, pervaded by a spirit of sweet reasonableness that charms even when it may not convince.” J. E. Le Rossignol
“One of the most important books that have appeared within the last decade. Many thoughtful Americans, already well acquainted with the socio-political theories and programs of socialists, of single-taxers, of syndicalists, and of classical economists, have been ignorant of the tendencies of Catholic social politics. Dr Ryan’s book is not a history of Catholic social politics—such a work is still to be written. Rather, it is a painstaking critique of the morality of private land-ownership and rent, of private capital and interest, of profits and wages; and its significance lies in the fact that the morality in question is the moral teaching of the Roman Catholic church and that the thoughtful American who reads it has no longer any excuse for being ignorant of the meaning of Catholic social politics.” C. J. H. Hayes