Book Review Digest Devoted to the Valuation of Current Literature Reviews of 1920 Books (continued 25)
Reading edition
LEYDS, WILLEM JOHANNES. Transvaal surrounded. *$8 Dutton 968
(Eng ed 20–23043)
“In continuation of this author’s monumental work on the annexation of the Transvaal, this volume was completed and prepared for publication in June, 1914, just previous to the opening of the great world war. At that critical time its publication did not seem prudent and its appearance was delayed. In the preceding volume the relations of the Boers and the British government were reviewed from the first settlements in South Africa to the London convention of 1884.... With the events which followed this volume is concerned and especially with the British policy, which was systematically followed by each succeeding cabinet, of gradually surrounding this struggling republic by a barrier of British territory, which effectually deprived it of all opportunity of outward expansion. An appendix reproduces a large number of original documents of great value to the student of this period, who desires to make a close and exhaustive study of this really little understood feature in English-African history.”—Boston Transcript
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Boston Transcript p6 S 1 ’20 600w
“Dr Leyds is far too sweeping in his charges, due in large measure to his hatred of everything British and to his inexperience of native affairs. The book is one to be read and studied by all who desire to see both sides of a bad patch in our colonial history.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p147 Mr 4 ’20 2200w
L’HOPITAL, WINEFRIDE DE. Westminster cathedral and its architect; with an introd. by W. R. Lethaby. 2v il *$12 (5c) Dodd 726
(Eng ed 20–13853)
These volumes are a memorial to a great architect by his daughter. Volume 1 is devoted to the building of the cathedral and volume 2 to the making of the architect. Together the books contain 160 illustrations and numerous architectural plans. Partial contents of volume 1: The laying of the foundation-stone; Birth of the cathedral idea; The choosing of the architect and the style, 1892–1894; The plan; The structure—building progress—materials—constructional problems; Description and details of exterior; Description and details of interior; The adaptation and development of Byzantine architecture as exemplified in the cathedral; The mosaics; Appendices. Volume 2 contains the architect’s life history and the story of his architectural training and career and an index.
“Though her literary style is frequently clumsy and never particularly good, she had the necessary facts at her disposal and upon the whole has used them well. A more skilled biographer would have given us more of Bentley.”
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Cath World 111:821 S ’20 500w
“On the technical and intellectual side, the work might have been composed by an architect having no relation to Bentley, and this it is which gives a special attraction to these 700 pages. There is but one trace of feeling that might perhaps be deprecated: a certain sensitiveness lest, in arranging for the interior completion of the cathedral, the present or future authorities may be lacking in loyalty to the ideals of the architect.”
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Sat R 129:211 F 28 ’20 1100w
“The fact that so large and so admirable a book on a modern architect has appeared in this country is a matter for congratulation to the author, the publishers, and the architectural profession. Undoubtedly it was needed. One can justifiably criticize the arrangement, for it leads to a certain amount of repetition.”
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Spec 124:461 Ap 3 ’20 700w
“The account of the cathedral in this book is very full and interesting, and illustrated with plans both final and preliminary.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p739 D 11 ’19 2300w
LINCOLN, ELLIOTT CURTIS. Rhymes of a homesteader. il *$1.50 Houghton 811
20–5608
Many of these poems are in dialect, among them The varmint, Angela, An evening with Browning, The phonograph, The game of games and The old-timer remarks. Others, such as The sunflower road, Montana night, Hills, Wheel tracks, Wild geese, and A song of the wire fence, are descriptive of the wild beauty of the northwest country. Some of the poems have appeared in Contemporary Verse, Adventure, Overland and Sunset.
“Lack the poetic beauty of Piper on the same subject, but will have many readers.”
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Booklist 17:62 N ’20
“Elliott C. Lincoln deals with two types of verse, descriptive and dialect-narrative, with rather more discrimination than Robert Service, but by no means as much vigor. The descriptive verse is melodious, if often conventional.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a Jl 11 ’20 180w
“The sociologist often can learn more about America and the American people from this homespun verse without literary distinction than from the smooth rhymes that flow in and around the poetry reviews. Eugene Field was the outstanding master of the homelier craft. A successor of his, perhaps superior in wealth and charm of diction, more direct, more sensitive, is Elliott C. Lincoln.”
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Survey 44:351 Je 5 ’20 170w
LINCOLN, JOSEPH CROSBY (JOE LINCOLN, pseud.). Portygee. il *$2 (2c) Appleton
20–6287
Portygee is the old Cape Cod term for foreigner expressive of both contempt and suspicion. It is applied with all its hidden meaning to Albert Miguel Carlos Speranza, when he comes to live with his grandparents, old sea captain Zelotes Snow and his wife, after the death of his father, a Spanish opera singer. The latter had eloped with the captain’s only daughter, who had died unforgiven by the old man. Albert, aged seventeen, fresh from a fashionable New York school, has much to live down and to live up to in South Harniss: his inclination to write poetry and his dislike for business, in the first place; and his grandfather’s expectations of him in the second. Little by little and with struggles on both sides, that endear the two leading characters to the reader, both win out. Albert comes to occupy first place in the old man’s heart and is no longer a Portygee, while he gains his own ends, becomes an author, a war hero, and marries the best girl in town.
Booklist 16:313 Je ’20
“The reader of ‘The Portygee’ will find within its pages a somewhat conventional story, but he will find also, as in everything Mr Lincoln has written, a sure understanding of the people of Cape Cod, and an entertaining chronicle of its life and scenes.”
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Boston Transcript p10 Ap 24 ’20 1500w
“Another inimitable Cape Cod story.”
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Cleveland p71 Ag ’20 40w
“He can tell a very good story, as he does in ‘The Portygee,’ his psychology, tho somewhat obvious, is true, but his thoroly ‘wholesome’ humor lacks the faintest alleviation of subtlety. Cape Cod deserves a better interpreter.”
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Ind 103:186 Ag 14 ’20 100w
“‘The Portygee’ is a pleasant, amusing little story, which Mr Lincoln’s admirers will no doubt greatly enjoy.”
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N Y Times 25:219 My 2 ’20 480w
“There is hearty fun in the book, and there is also sound philosophy and fine Americanism.”
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Outlook 125:281 Je 9 ’20 140w
“This book brings back the smell of the moors, the salt sea, and the thick encompassing fogs.” Katharine Oliver
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Pub W 97:1287 Ap 17 ’20 240w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p653 O 7 ’20 60w
“A pleasant tale, which will be enjoyed by all lovers of Lincoln.”
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Wis Lib Bul 16:126 Je ’20 80w
LINCOLN, NATALIE SUMNER. Red seal. il *$1.75 (3c) Appleton
20–4266
A burglar forces his way into a fashionable Washington home, is caught and taken to court where the McIntyre twins, whose house he had entered, appear against him. His sudden death in the courtroom demands an inquest and an autopsy, which reveal the fact that Jimmie Turnbull, cashier of the Metropolis Trust Company, while masquerading as a burglar, was killed by poison. His engagement to Helen McIntyre complicates the situation. Harry Kent, lover of the twin sister Barbara, takes up the case. Missing securities and a mysterious envelope sealed with a red B further complicate matters. The characters all suspect one another and the reader suspects everyone in turn. Eventually Harry Kent solves the mystery, and the miserable shoulders of the clever forger take the guilt of all phases of the perplexing crime.
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Booklist 16:245 Ap ’20
“There is nothing unusually clever in the structure of the story. By concealing essential facts, by raising a new question with every incident, and by answering none, the author puzzles rather than creates suspense. The story is indeed so confusing as to be in danger of being tiresome.” G. H. C.
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Boston Transcript p6 Ap 28 ’20 300w
“‘The red seal’ has the great merit of being really mysterious. The author has managed very cleverly in the way she contrives to conceal all clues that might lead one to discover the true culprit, holding them back until the very end. The tale moves swiftly and holds the reader’s interest.”
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N Y Times 25:164 Ap 11 ’20 360w
“As in so many cinema plots, everyone seems to be ready to believe anything about anybody, to act in the most compromising manner for apparently inadequate motives, and to prevaricate with voluble insincerity at all times and in all places. With such allies at her disposal, Miss Lincoln makes so formidable a defence of her mystery that only the most experienced reader will penetrate it before the time appointed for unveiling.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p554 Ag 26 ’20 220w
LIND, WALLACE LUDWIG.[2] Internal-combustion engines. il $2.20 Ginn 621.43
20–6497
The author has treated of internal combustion engines, their principles and application to automobile, aircraft, and marine purposes. “The endeavor has been to arrange and present the subject matter in such a manner as to bring it well within the comprehension of the average student. For more advanced students, who have a knowledge of thermodynamics, the writer has presented in Chapter III the theoretical considerations of the various cycles which are applicable to internal-combustion engines.” (Preface) There are 120 illustrations, a trouble chart and an index.
“For its purpose the book is very well suited: the theoretical work is sufficiently elementary, and the sections describing practice, although apparently slight, are just such as young cadets can grasp and appreciate.”
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Nature 106:210 O 14 ’20 180w
LINDEN, HERMAN VANDER.[2] Belgium, the making of a nation; tr. by Sybil Jane. (Histories of the nations ser.) *$3.75 Oxford 949.3
(Eng ed 20–9824)
“This volume is a translation of Professor H. vander Linden’s ‘Vue générale de l’histoire de Belgique’ with the addition of three chapters dealing with the history of the modern kingdom since 1831, written specially for this English edition. The original title tells us that the reader must not expect to find in this work more than a historical sketch. The writer makes no higher claim for it.”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
“Monographs are valuable if their scope be limited, but any small volume covering centuries has the defects of its qualities. In this instance the reader might have gained had the author limited himself to a consideration of modern Belgium. The later chapters are richer in individuality and indicate what the author can do in character-sketches.”
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Am Hist R 26:355 Ja ’21 420w
Ath p76 Jl 16 ’20 640w
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Eng Hist R 35:629 O ’20 120w
“The best portions of this book are the numerous sections dealing with the social and economical conditions and progress of the Belgic provinces at various epochs of their chequered history. The strictly historical narrative does not deserve the same unqualified praise.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p344 Je 3 ’20 1650w
LINDERMAN, FRANK BIRD. On a passing frontier. *$1.75 Scribner
20–10052
“These glimpses of past or passing phases of life in Montana get a sure grip on the reader, in spite of their sombre quality. Bad men, bad language, and bad whisky figure prominently in the sketches, but most of the experiences ring true.” (Outlook) “His characters run the usual gamut of western tales, and each possesses a picturesque individuality, correctly shaded.” (Boston Transcript)
“These sketches of the Little Rockies will rank well in the front class of fiction.”
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Boston Transcript p6 Jl 3 ’20 160w
“The stuff of good literature, though not in any final form, appears in ‘On a passing frontier,’ short stories without too much art, but also without too much decoration, which bring the Little Rockies very near home.”
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Nation 111:164 Ag 7 ’20 40w
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Outlook 125:431 Je 30 ’20 70w
LINDSAY, MAUD MCKNIGHT. Bobby and the big road. il *$1.50 (9c) Lothrop
20–26565
Bobby has always lived in the city but when he is five years old his father and mother take him to live in a little brown house by the side of a country road. The story tells of his little adventures while making friends with the birds and animals and flowers. He makes other friends too and goes to the circus and spends a happy Christmas. The story is suitable for children who have just learned to read.
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Booklist 16:353 Jl ’20
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Cleveland p108 D ’20 30w
“It is meant for little folks like Bobby, but the book has a charm for grown-up readers, too.”
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Springf’d Republican p9a O 29 ’20 140w
LINDSAY, NICHOLAS VACHEL. Golden whales of California; and other rhymes in the American language. *$1.75 Macmillan 811
20–2832
In addition to the title piece this volume contains poems on Bryan, John L. Sullivan and Roosevelt; also The Daniel jazz, Rameses II, Kalamazoo, My fathers came from Kentucky, The empire of China is crumbling down, and others.
Booklist 16:234 Ap ’20
“Mr Lindsay’s verse makes a blatantly self-conscious attempt to be primitive. His is a mannered striving to be ‘natural’—and the studio savagery of his method would doubtless alarm a genuinely primitive people, as it entertains a jaded coterie of the over-refined.” R. M. Weaver
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Bookm 51:453 Je ’20 650w
“With this volume Mr Lindsay certainly regains all he seems to have lost in his previous collection, and he now settles permanently in the very forefront of the half a dozen contemporary poets whose fame will last beyond the generation in which they were born.” W. S. B.
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Boston Transcript p10 Ap 17 ’20 1500w
Cleveland p52 My ’20 100w
“Two impulses dominate Lindsay’s latest volume; two tendencies that are almost opposed in mood and mechanics. Sometimes the Jerusalem theme is uppermost; sometimes the jazz orchestration drowns everything else. Frequently, in the more successful pieces, there is a racy, ragtime blend of both. But a half-ethical, half-aesthetic indecision, an inability to choose between what most delights Lindsay and what his hearers prefer is the outstanding effect—and defect—of his new collection.” L: Untermeyer
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Dial 68:789 Je ’20 1200w
“There is an impression abroad that ‘The golden whales’ falls a little below ‘General William Booth,’ ‘The Congo,’ and ‘The Santa Fe trail.’ It does do that; yet it stands well up among Mr Lindsay’s better poems, which is to say, among the better poems of contemporary America.” M. V. D.
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Nation 110:856 Je 26 ’20 350w
“In this volume it is poems like Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan and Kalamazoo and The golden whales and The comet of prophecy and My lady is compared to a young tree and The statue of old Andrew Jackson and the Roosevelt poems and the Alexander Campbell poems which show the increasing self-possession of a singer who really lives with wonder and abides with dreams. The fascination of Lindsay is that this wonder and these dreams are drawn from common American life.” F. H.
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New Repub 21:321 F 11 ’20 1300w
“‘The golden whales’ is a book thoroughly alive, thoroughly jolly and thoroughly fit for chanting in typical Vachelese. His idiom, as well as his whimsical exaggeration, roars on every page.” Clement Wood
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N Y Call p10 My 23 ’20 400w
“The book, taken by and large, might be a parody on Mr Lindsay, all the Mr Lindsays.... And yet one knows very well what has happened. The superstition has got him, the group-consciousness has sucked him down. Mr Lindsay has listened too readily to his kind public, his critical faculty, never strong, has been smoked and blurred by incense.” Amy Lowell
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N Y Times 25:251 My 16 ’20 2850w
“In this writer there have always been two elements: the poet, and what I shall unceremoniously, but not disrespectfully, call the urchin.... The poet and the urchin lived apart: they could not find each other. They have found each other, in my judgment, in the ‘Golden whales,’ and their meeting is the signal for Mr Lindsay’s emergence into the upper air of song.” O. W. Firkins
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Review 2:518 My 15 ’20 700w
“Many persons have become needlessly alarmed and excited over Mr Lindsay’s importance as a poet. He is original, very original, both in form and in substance, and he is exhilarating—if it be only the exhilaration induced by the jingling tambourine.... The new book shows Mr Lindsay performing at top speed—facile, self-confident, clever, sometimes brilliant, his viewpoints as healthy and entertaining as ever.”
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Springf’d Republican p6 Mr 1 ’20 480w
“Mr Lindsay’s ‘The golden whales of California’ is a disappointment. In this volume, the exuberance of spirit seems artificial, a mannerism; we weary of what the poet calls the ‘jazz bird’s screech’ and ‘monkey-shines and didoes.’” E: B. Reed
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Yale R n s 10:203 O ’20 150w
LINDSEY, BENJAMIN BARR, and O’HIGGINS, HARVEY JERROLD. Doughboy’s religion, and other aspects of our day. *$1.25 (8c) Harper 940.478
20–1683
In his introduction Harvey J. O’Higgins, giving an appreciation and brief survey of Judge Lindsey’s career, says that it is as an advocate of a moral alliance that he speaks in the book—“for although the actual writing of the book has been a work of collaboration, the message is his message and the spirit of its utterance is, as nearly as possible, his.” This is the message: “The Christian religion is not a religion of individual salvation and selfish virtue. It is a religion of love and self-sacrifice and humility.” It is a religion of doing rather than of church-going and the American junker will have to accept it if the lessons of the war are to be fruitful ones. The four essays of the book are: The doughboy’s religion; The junker faith; Horses’ rights for women; A league of understanding.
Booklist 16:237 Ap ’20
“There has been so much nonsense about the religion of the American soldier written and spoken by members of the Y. M. C. A. that it is refreshing to hear the subject treated intelligently by a real man. It is not strange that the famous judge of the juvenile court should be the man to understand the doughboy as others have failed to understand him.” G. H. C.
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Boston Transcript p6 F 4 ’20 600w
“The publication, at this date, seems to be an afterthought. However, the book will have some interest, since it presents the thoughts of a man so well-known as Judge Lindsey.”
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Cath World 111:540 Jl ’20 140w
“These essays are thought-provoking and written with Judge Lindsey’s usual fiery sincerity.”
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Cleveland p42 Ap ’20 120w
“Judge Lindsey spares no one in his discussion and is judicious in his summary of the case.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 F 10 ’20 450w
LIPPMANN, WALTER. Liberty and the news. *$1 (7c) Harcourt 323
20–4814
Two essays, on What modern liberty means and Liberty and the news, are here reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly, prefaced by a brief introductory essay on Journalism and the higher law. In the latter the author says, “Everywhere today men are conscious that somehow they must deal with questions more intricate than any that church or school had prepared them to understand. Increasingly they know that they cannot understand them if the facts are not quickly and steadily available. Increasingly they are baffled because the facts are not available; and they are wondering whether government by consent can survive in a time when the manufacture of consent is an unregulated private enterprise. For in an exact sense the present crisis of western democracy is a crisis in journalism.” The aim of the two main essays is “to describe the character of the problem, and to indicate headings under which it may be found useful to look for remedies.”
Booklist 16:263 My ’20
“Mr Lippmann’s contribution is neither a panegyric nor a tirade. He has approached a perplexing problem in dispassionate, sane and judicial fashion and with a beneficent purpose.” H: L. West
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Bookm 52:116 O ’20 950w
Ind 102:370 Je 12 ’20 160w
Int J Ethics 31:115 O ’20 90w
Reviewed by H. J. Laski
Nation 110:594 My 1 ’20 480w
“Mr Walter Lippmann is one of the editors of the New Republic, and consequently may be presumed to know all about liberty; but he has never been a newspaper man and, while he knows a good deal about news, most of what he knows is not true.”
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N Y Times 25:129 Mr 21 ’20 3200w
“The programme which the author proffers is a worthy one. Would that it could be attained! Progress toward its attainment will, however, require considerable soul-searching and inner reformation on the part of responsible persons connected with the handling of the news; and this is likely to require rather large drafts on the bank of time.” W. J. Ghent
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Review 2:571 My 29 ’20 1250w
“However much one may disagree with some of Mr Lippmann’s statements and views, there is no doubt that he renders a public service by directing his critical mind to the press and its influence. It is courageous thinking of this kind that will help the public to become more exacting in its demand on the press.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a Mr 21 ’20 1300w
“A calm, impersonal and general survey.” J. G. McDonald
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Survey 44:307 My 29 ’20 320w
LISLE, CLIFTON. Diamond rock. il *$1.75 (2c) Harcourt
20–16154
A boys’ story of the revolutionary war. The Quaker settlement in Chester county, Pennsylvania, had been very remote from the scene of war and had taken little interest in its progress, but with the battle of the Brandywine in the summer of 1777, it is brought close to them. On that very day Joe Lockhart, fishing along the creek, encounters an attractive stranger who teaches him how to catch trout with a worm. Later Joe and his chum, Amos Rambo, pick up a paper which shows the stranger to have been a spy. Joe carries the evidence to Washington’s headquarters and reports and is sent on a mission thru the British lines. He meets the stranger again and learns that he is a spy on the right side. Thereafter the two boys see something of all the stirring events that follow, including the Paoli massacre.
LITCHFIELD, PAUL WEEKS. Industrial republic. *$1 (8c) Houghton 331.1
20–10139
The booklet is a study in industrial economics by the vice-president and factory manager of the Goodyear Tire and rubber company. Government and management, says the author, are synonymous terms, the one being applied to the political, the other to the industrial world and the war has focussed attention on the faults of both. After a brief outline of the evolution of capital and the wage system and its present antagonism the author points out the necessity of giving labor the control of the management of an industry while safe-guarding the interests of capital. In illustration he describes the Goodyear representation plan. Contents: Expansion of political democracy; The labor-capital opposition—genesis and growth; Present status of the labor-capital opposition; Clues to the solution; Rights involve duties; The industrial republic; Industrial citizenship; The Goodyear representation plan.
Booklist 17:54 N ’20
“The book should prove of real interest to social workers and to business men. It maintains a consistent point of view throughout and develops logically to its conclusion.” Alexander Fleisher
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Survey 44:638 Ag 16 ’20 140w
LITERARY digest history of the world war; comp. by Francis W. Halsey. 10v il with subscription to Literary digest *$12 Funk 940.3
20–646
“This work covers the titanic struggle as it was fought on land, by sea, in the air, on all fronts in all parts of the world, by the thirty nations involved in the conflict. The first six volumes deal chiefly with the outbreak of the war and its causes, and the long and bitter struggle on the western front, including America’s entrance and participation, and carrying the story down to the signing of the armistice, the occupation of the Rhine valley, and the meeting of the peace conference in Paris. The seventh is devoted to Russia’s share in the war, the revolution, the Brest-Litovsk treaty, and the rule of the Bolsheviki. In the eighth is to be found the story of the war in the Balkans, Turkey, and Palestine, while the ninth deals with Italy’s war effort and the story of the submarine warfare. The tenth contains the history of sea battles and of commerce raiding, an adequate description of the work of the Peace conference, sketches of fifty military and political leaders, a chronology that fills forty pages, and an index to the whole work. The volumes are all copiously illustrated.”—N Y Times
“The internal political events in the various countries are nearly altogether neglected, except of course the revolutions in Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. In this method of treatment there can be only a feeble attempt to evaluate the significance of the various factors entering into the huge conflict. The account lacks, too, as is natural, the simple direct style of Usher’s ‘Story of the great war.’ Nevertheless it is a comprehensive piece of work well done and extremely well suited to the clientele to whom it is directed.” G: F. Zook
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Am Hist R 25:720 Jl ’20 670w
Reviewed by W. C. Abbott
Bookm 51:115 Mr ’20 80w
N Y Evening Post p13 D 31 ’20 100w
“Mr Halsey approached his task with a true perspective and justly saw and accurately described the part taken by each nation involved in its due relation to the whole conflict and the final victory.”
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N Y Times 25:172 Ap 11 ’20 1250w
“The present work is certainly full of fine material and will itself be constantly and permanently valuable for reference and study.”
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Outlook 123:515 D 17 ’19 200w
“In common justice to the author, we must give him praise for his skill in so reducing, condensing, and digesting the immense mass of material at his command as to produce a continuous and even narrative.”
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Review 3:424 N 3 ’20 320w
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Springf’d Republican p6 N 15 ’20 60w
Springf’d Republican p6 D 4 ’20 150w (Review of v 10)
LIVERMORE, GEORGE GRISWOLD.[2] Take it from Dad. il *$2 Macmillan 817
20–21986
Letters from a father to his son in preparatory school, letters full of friendly advice and good counsel with a mixture of homely anecdote from the father’s experience. There are amusing illustrations by Bert Salg.
“A new kind of boys’ book—and a good kind, too.”
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Outlook 127:110 Ja 19 ’21 60w
“It is not difficult to imagine that fathers with boys of eighteen will find Mr Soule an altogether enjoyable companion.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 Ja 4 ’21 240w
LIVERMORE, THOMAS LEONARD. Days and events, 1860–1866. il *$6 (3c) Houghton 973.7
20–5734
This posthumous book, published by the author’s family and recording Colonel Livermore’s experiences in the Civil war, was begun immediately after the conclusion of the war, while its events were still fresh in his mind. Henry M. Rogers in his introduction gives a brief sketch of the author’s life.
“Colonel Livermore has been known for a long time by his work on ‘Numbers and losses in the Civil war,’ which has been one of the most valuable contributions to our military history. The work now before us is of an entirely different character and reflects the ability of the author from a new and no less interesting angle.” Eben Swift
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Am Hist R 25:734 Jl ’20 600w
“The volume ought to take its place as a real ‘source book’ for commentators on the history of that conflict. There is much of entertainment in the narrative, which is frank to a degree and often vigorous, fresh, and significant in its criticisms.”
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Outlook 124:431 Mr 10 ’20 100w
LIVINGSTON, ROBERT. Land of the great out-of-doors. il *$1.75 (9c) Houghton
20–17525
When they are about five and six years old, Penrose and Penelope, known as Pen and Penny, are taken to the country to live on a farm. This little story tells of their daily life, beginning in the spring time and continuing to Christmas. In some of the chapters Pen tells of his doings, in others Penny gives her view of things. The colored pictures are by Maurice Day.
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Ind 104:380 D 11 ’20 40w
“The impersonator frequently forgets, in his desire to have the valuable information imparted, that he is under contract to use the speech of childhood. However, the stories will undoubtedly find favor with the little folk, and their atmosphere is fresh and wholesome.” M. H. B. Mussey
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Nation 111:sup672 D 8 ’20 80w
“It will prove excellent to read aloud, or to give to children who are just beginning to read for themselves.” Hildegarde Hawthorne
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N Y Times p4 D 5 ’20 120w
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Springf’d Republican p8 N 18 ’20 80w
LOCK, H. O.[2] Conquerors of Palestine through forty centuries. *$3 Dutton 956.9
20–4566
“The history begins with the ancient Egyptians, relates the campaigns and conquests of the Jews, the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, the picturesque warriors of the Crusades, the French, and then the British. The intervening history is briefly sketched, to make a connected narrative. The book has an introduction by Field Marshal Viscount Allenby, commander-in-chief of the British forces in Palestine.”—Springf’d Republican
“Major Lock has produced a readable sketch of a large subject. The map attached to the book is ingeniously contrived to illustrate the many periods of history on which Major Lock touches.”
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Spec 122:86 Ja 17 ’20 100w
Springf’d Republican p8 N 6 ’20 60w
LOCKE, GLADYS EDSON. Ronald o’ the moors. il *$1.75 (2½c) Four seas co.
20–94
This historical novel is staged on the Dartmoor bogs in the reign of George II. Dartmoor was a hot-bed of Jacobite sympathy, and Sir Roger Hetherington had been sent down from the court of St James to guard Penraven Castle, the center of Jacobite activity, and to capture wild Ronald o’ the moors, a highwayman and night rider who made Hanoverians his particular prey. Sir Roger was far from welcome at Penraven Castle, indeed he soon realized that he was in the midst of bitter enemies. What made the success of his undertaking even more doubtful, however, was the fact that he at once lost his heart to Lady Edris Penraven, the mistress of the castle he was sent to spy upon, and that Ronald seemed to be as elusive as the will o’ the wisps that flitted over the moor. Altogether Sir Roger’s plans did not work out just as he had shaped them, but the end of the story, altho it leaves him exiled in France, yet brings him happiness as well, since he shares Lady Edris’s fate.
“The book is about on a par with the average of its class, fiction of which the authors seem to be under the impression that vital interest is imparted by a liberal supply of oaths and expletives, and the use of archaic language whether appropriate to the period or otherwise.”
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Cath World 111:408 Je ’20 140w
LOCKE, WILLIAM JOHN. House of Baltazar. *$1.90 (2c) Lane
20–26105
The hero is a man of great intellectual power, dynamic physical energy and sudden quixotic impulses. After he has spent eighteen years of voluntary exile in China—self imposed because he fears to compromise the girl he loves—and two years of hermitlike seclusion on the moor with a fascinating and erudite young Chinese student, a German bomb from a zeppelin shocks him into a dazed knowledge of the European war. Wide awake, action hungry, he scorns his former achievements as a mathematical genius and brilliant Chinese scholar, plunges into political activities, gets “hitched on to” the war, and becomes the man of the hour. The old distasteful personal ties are broken through his wife’s death and the lapse of the years. New ones are forged and he learns that he has a fine son of whom he had not even dreamed. Life in London has become sweet and full and he desires no change. But once more the quixotic impulse asserts itself—a sacrifice becomes necessary for the sake of his officer son’s career, and he is off to China again.
“A typically interesting Locke story. The book ends rather weakly.”
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Booklist 16:204 Mr ’20
“Mr Locke has written many stories better than ‘The house of Baltazar,’ but there are few of them in which his neglected opportunities were greater. The truth is that he, like many other novelists, is obsessed by the necessity of making the war and its far-reaching effects a part of his fiction.” E. F. E.
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Boston Transcript p6 Ja 21 ’20 1260w
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Dial 68:537 Ap ’20 20w
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Ind 103:54 Jl 10 ’20 110w
“But, after all, it is Baltazar himself who is the book, and he is always a joy.”
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N Y Times 25:38 Ja 25 ’20 1150w
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Outlook 124:430 Mr 10 ’20 200w
“A captious reader might complain that Mr Locke has tried to do too many things at once, that a single novel simply has not sufficient space to include the big issues of feminism, profiteering, labour unrest and the thousand and one elements of contemporary social upheaval. But Mr Locke’s readers are not inclined to be captious.” F. T. Cooper
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Pub W 97:173 Ja 17 ’20 550w
“The writing is pleasant and workmanlike, and the way in which the elder woman of the story is led to reknit her broken romance is exceedingly well imagined.”
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Sat R 129:477 My 22 ’20 130w
“Mr Locke has given us an ingenious and amusing story, but gratitude for this gift cannot prevent even an indolent reviewer from protesting mildly against the strain he has imposed on our credulity.”
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Spec 124:462 Ap 3 ’20 550w
“Baltazar is very likeable in his forceful domineering strength, and Marcelle is a charming foil to his powerful personality. The lighter element is supplied by the Chinaman.”
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Springf’d Republican p13a F 22 ’20 650w
“Mr W. J. Locke goes on his way regardless of the limits between the probable and the improbable. John Baltazar stretches the credulity of the reader to the utmost from the moment that he enters on the scene.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p139 F 26 ’20 550w
LOCKEY, JOSEPH BYRNE. Pan-Americanism: its beginnings. *$5 Macmillan 327
20–7662
The author’s preface points out that Pan-Americanism has passed through three periods, the first, characterized by a tendency toward solidarity, the second, by an opposite tendency toward separation and distrust, the third marked by a revival of the earlier trend. This book is devoted to the first of these periods, extending to about 1830 and embracing the years of revolution and the formation of new states. The eleven chapters are devoted to: Meaning of Pan-Americanism; Formation of new states; Failure of monarchical plots; United States and Hispanic American independence; International complications; Hispanic America and the Monroe doctrine; Early projects of continental union; The Panama congress; British influence; Attitude of the United States; Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. There is a bibliography of nineteen pages, followed by an index. The work was completed as an “academic task” at Columbia university under the direction of Professor John Bassett Moore.
“A thorough and authoritative study.”
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Booklist 17:148 Ja ’21
“With the substance of the book little fault can be found. It is timely and valuable. The arrangement and style are likely, however, to elicit some adverse criticism. The style abounds in colloquialisms, redundant words, and inexact expressions. But these slight imperfections do not seriously detract from or obscure the thought of an otherwise excellent work.” W: R. Manning
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N Y Evening Post p4 O 30 ’20 870w
R of Rs 62:223 Ag ’20 60w
Spec 125:471 O 9 ’20 1600w
“Interesting and scholarly study.”
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Springf’d Republican p6 Jl 16 ’20 330w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p475 Jl 22 ’20 70w
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p670 O 14 ’20 40w
LOCKINGTON, W. J. Soul of Ireland; with an introd. by G. K. Chesterton. *$1.75 Macmillan 941.5
20–824
“The gist of this [book is] that ‘Ireland is a proof, that the whole world may see, of the joy of life and sanity of outlook that spring from the Catholic church, the church of the tabernacle’: aliter that ‘the Irishman fearlessly stands before the whole world and unhesitatingly proclaims that his greatest pride and his greatest glory is the heritage that was given him by St Patrick—our Holy Catholic faith.’”—The Times [London] Lit Sup
Ath p1387 D 19 ’19 40w
Booklist 16:240 Ap ’20
“Father Lockington employs a bombastic style unfortunately characteristic of a class of books about Ireland, books against which nearly all the younger Irish writers have revolted. It is surprising to find an author of Mr Chesterton’s literary standing writing an introduction to ‘The soul of Ireland’: readers who care for literature will be wise to go no further.” N. J. O’C.
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Boston Transcript p6 F 25 ’20 180w
“Long, sickly, sentimental rhapsody, in the rococo style.” Preserved Smith
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Nation 110:556 Ap 24 ’20 150w
“It is written in a lofty, almost poetic, style, and a deep religious fervor pervades it throughout.”
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N Y Times 25:225 My 2 ’20 500w
“Even those who stand outside the sacred circle for which he writes and who can not share the glowing devoutness of his symbolism must be moved by the enthusiastic tenderness with which this Jesuit priest idealizes the land of his ministry.” H. L. Stewart
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Review 2:284 Mr 20 ’20 150w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p679 N 20 ’19 70w
LODGE, RUPERT CLENDON. Introduction to modern logic. $2 (1c) Perine bk. co., 1413 University av., S. E., Minneapolis, Minn. 160
20–5668
An introductory text book prepared by an assistant professor of philosophy in the University of Minnesota. “By ‘modern’ logic is understood that body of logical theories and methods which is usually associated with the names of Lotze, Sigwart, Bradley, Bosanquet, Wundt, Erdmann and Dewey.... The traditional or Aristotelian logic, which has played so great a part in the past history of thought, is entirely omitted from consideration, as are also symbolic logic and the various attempts at inventing a logical calculus. For all such omissions, as well as for what is included, the sole justification is the nature of an introductory treatise.” (Preface) The book is in three parts: Judgment; Inference; and Scientific method. Each chapter is followed by references and exercises and there is an index to authorities referred to in the text as well as a general index.
“In this purpose to develop comprehensively the constructive theory of ‘modern logic,’ the author has admirably succeeded. The presentation marches. Compactness, explicitness, the constant use of illustration, and clarity in development are its outstanding features.” C. I. Lewis
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J Philos 17:498 Ag 26 ’20 1200w
LOEB, MRS SOPHIE IRENE (SIMON). Everyman’s child. il *$2 Century 362.7
20–17501
The author is the president of the New York city Board of child welfare and has personally studied the child welfare work done in various European countries and in the United States. The book describes the urgency of state laws to protect the children of the poor and what has already been done in that direction through the Widow’s pension law. Among the contents are: The cry of the children; What is being accomplished; Homes instead of institutions for the children of Uncle Sam; Importance of home life to children; How children keep out of children’s court; How the other half dies; The unwanted child; Boarded-out children. There are illustrations and an appendix.
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Booklist 17:94 D ’20
“Miss Loeb’s book is written with care and out of her manifold experience; but it is written also in enthusiasm. The book represents the most progressive thoughts on these problems and is worthy of a careful reading.”
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Boston Transcript p6 D 4 ’20 290w
Wis Lib Bul 16:233 D ’20 40w
LOFTING, HUGH. Story of Dr Dolittle; being the history of his peculiar life at home and astonishing adventures in foreign parts. il *$2.25 Stokes
20–18925
A very jolly nonsense story. Dr Dolittle loves animals and fills his house with queer pets, to the dismay of many of his patients. His sister warns him that if he keeps on none of the best people will have him for a doctor. But he loves animals better than he does the best people and the result is that his practice all falls off. So he gives up being a people’s doctor to become an animal doctor. He learns their language, Polynesia his parrot acting as his teacher. When the opportunity comes to go to Africa to cure the monkeys of a strange disease he is ready for it, and there he has most curious and interesting adventures. The illustrations are by the author.
“The most delightful nonsense story of the year.” A. C. Moore
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Bookm 52:260 N ’20 360w
“An invigorating, fascinating tale, its quaintness enhanced by the droll illustrations.”
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Dial 69:548 N ’20 60w
“It is a pleasant surprise to open a volume whose illustrations appeal because of their inherent nonsense, and to find the author, who is as well the illustrator, maintaining a delightful sense of proportion in his imagination.”
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Lit D p89 D 4 ’20 200w
“This is the best ‘animal’ story we remember to have come across in a long time, imbued with a real love and understanding of animals and with a humor which is fresh and quaint.”
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N Y Evening Post p19 D 4 ’20 240w
“Is as fascinating as it is queer.” Hildegarde Hawthorne
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N Y Times p9 D 12 ’20 250w
LOMAX, JOHN AVERY, comp. Songs of the cattle trail and cow camp; with a foreword by William Lyon Phelps. *$1.75 Macmillan 811.08
19–18742
“Those who enjoyed the rough but hearty lyrics in ‘Cowboy songs, and other frontier ballads’ will wish to read these later collections by the same author, now working under a Harvard fellowship. The later volume has no music scores, and many of the poems can definitely be assigned to authors, among them, Charles Badger Clark, jr. and Herbert H. Knibbs.”—Booklist
Booklist 16:195 Mr ’20
“Some of these pieces are clearly as spurious as are the seventeenth century lyrics of Strephon and Colin. Others are more true to life.”
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Nation 110:306 Mr 6 ’20 280w
“Whatever may be the literary poverty of the verse in Mr Lomax’s book, the poems are true to type. Many of the ‘Songs of the cattle trail’ are worth little, perhaps, in themselves. Collected, they form both a picture and a plea: a picture of a vitally individual and highly-colored life that is rapidly fading into the monotone of a mechanical civilization; a plea for a deeper, finer art-interpretation of that life.” Natalie Curtis
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Nation 111:591 N 24 ’20 2200w
“It is a pleasure to read verse that is unpretentiously natural, in which something happens, and in which nature is allowed to seem as robust and hearty as she really is. Professor Lomax has done well by his country in presenting these rough songs of adventure in the West.” Marguerite Wilkinson
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N Y Times 25:140 Mr 28 ’20 550w
“The volume is essentially a book of the soil, truly interpretative of an element of our national life which has practically faded away.”
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Springf’d Republican p10 Mr 26 ’20 500w
“This new collection of songs written by and for cowboys is more interpretive of the American spirit than the third-rate material from Greenwich village with which most of our literary periodicals fill their pages. Somewhat surprising, perhaps, to those whose idea of its life is taken from films and fiction, is the chastity of thought and diction in this folk-literature of the Far West. Its realism, and often its humor, is altogether delightful.” B. L.
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Survey 43:555 F 7 ’20 200w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p638 S 30 ’20 60w
LOMBARDI, CYNTHIA. Cry of youth. *$2 (1½c) Appleton
20–5773
Margaret Randolph, an American girl alone in Rome, meets Fra Felice Estori, a young Franciscan monk. He is as beautiful as a youthful god and quite ignorant of the ways of the world, for almost all his life has been spent within monastery walls. Margaret is also a devout Catholic and she knows their meetings are unwise but the two are drawn irresistibly together until both are faced with the fact of their love and the necessity for separation. The young monk, altho he has not taken his final vows, is to be sent to South America on a mission. With breaking hearts they part. But an artist friend who takes an interest in the two tricks them into coming to his lonely mountain castle and leaves them there alone. The outcome is that they resolve never to part and Fra Felice becomes lost to the world. Then follows the strange story of their lonely life, the birth and death of their child, separation, misunderstanding and final reunion, with the ancient title of Prince Estori restored to its rightful owner.
The Times [London] Lit Sup p538 Ag 19 ’20 270w
LONDON, JACK.[2] Brown Wolf, and other Jack London stories; as chosen by Franklin K. Mathiews. il *$1.75 (2c) Macmillan
21–380
These stories have been collected into one volume by the chief scout librarian of the Boy scouts of America, in the hope that they will serve to exercise both the boy’s mind and conscience by teaching him to see and feel life and nature as Jack London saw and felt it, and thereby to develop the emotional muscles of the spirit that open up new windows to the imagination and add some line or color to life’s ideals. The stories are: Brown Wolf; That spot; Trust; All gold canyon; The story of Keesh; Nam-Bok the unveracious; Yellow handkerchief; Make westing; The heathen; The hobo and the fairy; “Just meat”; A nose for the king.
LONDON, JACK.[2] Hearts of three. *$2.50 Macmillan
20–17822
“A posthumous story by Jack London, in which descendants of the famous pirate, Sir Henry Morgan, engage in a rival hunt for his treasure buried somewhere in the South Sea islands.” (Outlook) “‘Hearts of three’ is not an original work; it is the translation of a scenario by Mr Charles Goddard, who, as Jack London himself informs us was responsible for ‘The perils of Pauline,’ ‘The exploits of Elaine,’ and similar alliterative masterpieces. The result of this collaboration, as might be supposed, is a novel with a wealth of action, piled up without discrimination.” (Freeman)
“It has occasional moments of good writing when Jack London, the novelist, snatches the pen away—impatiently and not without considerable vexation, one likes to imagine—from the scenario-writer.” L. B.
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Freeman 2:285 D 1 ’20 170w
N Y Times p24 D 26 ’20 300w
“The idea of the tale is bold and its execution is spirited.”
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Outlook 126:470 N 10 ’20 40w
LONES, THOMAS EAST. Zinc and its alloys. (Pitman’s common commodities and industries) il $1 Pitman 669.5
GS20–328
The preface points out important changes in the zinc industry due to the war. The chapters then take up: Zinc: its history, properties, and uses; Zinc ores and other sources of zinc; Dressing zinc ores; Calcining and roasting zinc ores; Zinc smelting; Hydrometallurgical processes; Alloys of zinc. The book is illustrated with twenty-three figures and is indexed.
“The book possesses the virtues of being up to date and reasonable in price.”
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Engineer 129:301 Mr 19 ’20 100w
“An excellent example of what such books ought to be. It is a pity that the author did not keep clear altogether of chemical equations, which he might easily have done in a purely popular treatise, as he has been somewhat unfortunate in their use. In a future edition the author might with advantage devote a little space to the galvanising of iron.”
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Nature 105:193 Ap 15 ’20 350w
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N Y P L New Tech Bks p34 Ap ’20 100w
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Pratt p18 O ’20 20w
LONG, WILLIAM JOSEPH. Wood-folk comedies; the play of wild-animal life on a natural stage. il *$3 (4c) Harper 590.4
20–18326
It is the author’s contention that animal life is from beginning to end a gladsome comedy; that there is absolutely no such thing as a struggle for existence in nature; that the woods when they are white with snow are quite as cheery as the woods of spring or summer; and that the wood-folk are invincibly cheerful. On this basis the tales are written and great is the fun thereof. Contents: Morning on Moosehead; The birds’ table; Fox comedy; Players in sable; Wolves and wolf tales; Ears for hearing; Health and a day; Night life of the wilderness; Stories from the trail; Two ends of a bear story; When beaver meets otter; A night bewitched; The trail of the loup-garou; From a beaver lodge; Comedians all. There are eight illustrations in color.
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Booklist 17:100 D ’20
“Very readable.”
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Spec 125:822 D 18 ’20 30w
“Mr Long is least satisfying when he is forcing the note of sentimental optimism (‘animal life is from beginning to end a gladsome comedy’), and best worth reading when he tells a plain tale of animals’ habits or adventures in the landscapes which he describes so well.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p833 D 9 ’20 150w
LONGSTRETH, THOMAS MORRIS. Mac of Placid. *$1.90 (1½c) Century
20–14293
Mr Longstreth, who has written a book on the Adirondacks, as well as one on the Catskills, here makes his appearance as a novelist. His hero, Anson MacIntyre, is born in the “wolf winter” of 1869 and he tells his own story up thru the eighties. His beginnings are not promising, but two things unite to make a man of him, his deep love for his native woods and his love for Hallie Brewster. These two forces and one other, his friendship with R. L. S. For no less person than Stevenson appears as a character in the story. The two skate together on Saranac lake and become intimate companions. Mac’s romantic devotion to Hallie and his rivalry with Ed Touch appeal to the fiction writer’s imagination and he takes a hand in the wooing. Other real people, the Bakers and Dr Trudeau, are mentioned in the story.
“Lovers of Stevenson, the man, must add ‘Mac of Placid’ to the volumes of Stevensonia which have been accumulating so rapidly in the past decade.... The fundamental difficulty with Mr Longstreth’s book is that his characters, no matter how real to him, even though they may be actually alive, often fail to live.”
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N Y Times p25 Ag 29 ’20 780w
Reviewed by Joseph Mosher
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Pub W 98:659 S 18 ’20 270w
“The portrayal of Stevenson is vivid. Not the least interesting detail of the work is the colorful description of the Adirondack country and the rigorous joys of a winter there.”
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Springf’d Republican p11a S 26 ’20 240w
LOONEY, J. THOMAS. “Shakespeare” identified. *$5 Stokes 822.3
20–7795
A book written to prove that the plays of Shakespeare were written by Edward de Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford. The author states that his interest in the problem was awakened after years of study of “The merchant of Venice,” thru which he gained “a peculiar sense of intimacy with the mind and disposition of its author.” Convinced that this author had nothing in common with William Shakespeare of Stratford he set about finding the contemporary who best met the requirements. His search led him to Edward de Vere. The one play which does not fit into his scheme is “The tempest.” The book has a frontispiece portrait and an index.
“The effort of Mr Looney to solve this conflict is a little unfortunate in some respects, though most interesting in many others. A schoolmaster by profession, he is inclined to speak like one. Mr Looney thinks he has proved his theory. Of course, he has not. But he has opened most promising vistas, and it is to be hoped that his leads will be followed up.” Edwin Björkman
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Bookm 51:677 Ag ’20 3350w
“Mr Looney’s dominant fault is that his work is wholly inferential. However much we may be convinced that De Vere, had he been a genius, might have written such plays as Shakespeare’s, there is no tangible fact to connect them with him.” Joseph Krutch
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Nation 111:248 Ag 28 ’20 580w
“The argument connecting Oxford with the Shakespearean plays has the abundance of strained literary and personal analogies, and the amazing absence of common sense which characterize most Baconian endeavors.” J: Corbin
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N Y Times 25:18 Je 27 ’20 1600w
“The volume appears to have all the paraphernalia of scholarship but little of its critical spirit.”
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Outlook 125:615 Ag 4 ’20 220w
R of Rs 62:112 Jl ’20 90w
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Sat R 129:308 Mr 27 ’20 800w
“That we cannot agree with his conclusions we attribute partly to some grave defects which seem to us to exist in his reasoning, and partly to some general considerations which he appears to have overlooked.”
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Spec 124:425 Mr 27 ’20 1500w
“Mr Looney’s honesty enables us to see, a little more clearly than was evident from the essays of previous adventurers of the same kind, how this zeal for attributing the plays and poems of Shakespeare to some titled contemporary originates and grows.... Unencumbered by any inconvenient knowledge at first hand of what he is writing about, Mr Looney proceeds to build up his case very easily. Almost any man’s life could be illustrated from Shakespeare’s plays, and Mr Looney makes them illustrate the life of the Earl of Oxford.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p149 Mr 4 ’20 1550w
LORD, ARTHUR. Plymouth and the Pilgrims. *$1.50 Houghton 974.4
20–19250
This book comprises the Colver lectures for 1920 given at Brown university. The three lectures are entitled: Plymouth before the Pilgrims; The Pilgrims before Plymouth, and Plymouth and the Pilgrims. The first discusses “some of the political, geographical, and legal conditions which determined the settlement at Plymouth”; the second considers “some of the economic, social, and religious influences which directed and shaped the Pilgrim migration from England and Holland to the New World.” The third lecture takes up those incidents of special interest in Pilgrim history which may be useful in considering present problems and may “perhaps serve to illustrate in what particulars the lives and examples of the Pilgrims have contributed in shaping the American policy.” Mr Lord is president of the Pilgrim society and chairman of the Pilgrim tercentenary commission.
“Mr Lord throughout displays the depth of his legal attainments.” E. J. C.
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Boston Transcript p4 N 27 ’20 460w
“Altogether, the book moves swiftly and is well documented. Perhaps, however, his sympathy with the movement inclines him to an overestimate of the Pilgrim attitude toward freedom of worship.”
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N Y Evening Post p11 N 20 ’20 180w
R of Rs 63:111 Ja ’21 50w
“An outline of the essential facts the American citizen must know if he is to celebrate intelligently the landing of the Mayflower.”
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Survey 45:329 N 27 ’20 200w
LORD, KATHARINE. Little playbook. *$1.50 Duffield 812
20–9126
The plays have frequently been produced by the author and others and are intended for the needs of schools, clubs, settlements and playgrounds. Pantomime and dancing play a large part in them and music is desirable, but they do not require elaborate staging or costumes. In the introduction the author gives advice and suggestions for their production in order to insure the greatest amount of self-expression on the part of the children. The plays are: The greatest gift (a Christmas play); Katjens’ garden; June magic (a little play for the garden); The minister’s dream (a Thanksgiving fantasy); The day Will Shakspere went to Kenilworth (a pageant play); The Yuletide rose (a Christmas miracle play). Directions for the scenery and costumes are given at the end of each play.
“All of the plays are written in an amusing and simple manner and should prove a delight for children.” H. S. Gorman
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N Y Times 25:22 Jl 18 ’20 200w
LOREBURN, ROBERT THRESHIRE REID. 1st earl. How the war came. *$3 (3c) Knopf 940.311
(Eng ed 19–15817)
The book is a plea for open diplomacy under all conditions. Although the author puts the immediate responsibility for the war on the shoulders of the military power of Germany, he shows that the indirect but more fundamental cause is to be found in the clandestine transactions in the foreign affairs of all countries. He throws much light on the historical antecedents of the war in continental Europe, and exposes the unprecedented schemes of conquest all over the world undertaken by England and her allies even during the war itself. Contents: Introductory; Storm centre in the Balkans; Storm centre in Alsace-Lorraine; Great Britain is drawn into a French alliance; Attitude of Great powers in 1914; How the continent came to war; How Great Britain came into the war; Sir Edward Grey’s speech on 3rd August 1914; Belgium; Was it inevitable? Remedies; Appendix (Sir E. Grey’s speech on 3rd August 1914); Map of the Balkans.
Ath p932 S 19 ’19 200w
“Whatever be one’s personal views upon this thesis, it is impossible not to admit and to admire the ability with which the book is written. And it has something more than mere ability.” L. W.
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Ath p999 O 10 ’19 500w
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Booklist 16:308 Je ’20
“Lord Loreburn’s pages, an analysis as dispassionate as may be of the whole miserably intricate business of the telegrams of July, 1914, destroy whatever remains of the unphilosophic hope that all the evil was compact and corruptingly on one side.” Sganarelle
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Dial 68:799 Je ’20 150w
“Such an application of commonsense, honesty, and plain speaking should go far towards allaying the virulence of war hatreds and deflating national conceits.”
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Nation 109:826 D 27 ’19 1750w
“If the book is to be regarded merely as a historical essay, still it is one of the neatest and clearest ever written. Those who do not believe that the work of peacemaking was completed once for all at Versailles will place a far higher value on Earl Loreburn’s book.” Alvin Johnson
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New Repub 21:272 Ja 28 ’20 1850w
“Lord Loreburn has done the present and succeeding generations a real service by disentangling and rearranging, with all the skill of his profession, the capital events. Everybody should read the book, though everybody will not agree with the conclusions of its learned author.”
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Sat R 128:270 S 20 ’19 850w
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Spec 123:410 S 27 ’19 240w
“One may dissent from his reading of the facts, but it is impossible not to respect the admirable forensic temper with which they are presented.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p503 S 18 ’19 550w
LORENTZ, HENDRIK ANTOON. Einstein theory of relativity. *$1 Brentano’s 530.1
20–5628
“‘The Einstein theory of relativity’ has an introduction of twenty-four pages reprinted from various sources, followed by a small forty-page article by Lorentz, translated from a Dutch paper. Lorentz, it may be added, is one of the greatest of living physicists and came perilously near anticipating Einstein’s work of fifteen years ago. The article is devoted almost entirely to the gravitational aspect of relativity.”—Freeman
Booklist 17:18 O ’20
Cleveland p78 Ag ’20 20w
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Freeman 1:423 Jl 14 ’20 90w
N Y P L New Tech Bks p37 Ap ’20 30w
LORIA, ACHILLE. Karl Marx; authorised tr. from the Italian. *$1.50 (6c) Seltzer 335
21–881
A sketch of Marx’s life and an exposition and criticism of his doctrines compose Professor Loria’s monograph. The long foreword by the translators, Eden and Cedar Paul, is an analysis and criticism of Loria and of Loria’s attitude toward Marx.
“A brilliant appraisal of the life and works of the ‘Father of modern socialism.’ Contains an excellent foreword by Eden and Cedar Paul.”
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Socialist R 10:29 Ja ’21 70w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p189 Mr 18 ’20 80w
LORIMER, NORMA OCTAVIA. With other eyes. *$1.90 Brentano’s
20–8363
“Much of this pleasant story is alluringly set in the ‘Island valley of Avalon.’ The heroine is of Acadie, and is fittingly named Evangeline. She and her widowed mother have come from Nova Scotia, and settle at Glastonbury, where the mother marries an amiable old doctor, and the daughter falls in love with his son. But while Evangeline is on a visit to a Welsh manor belonging to her friend, a young clergyman arrives on the scene. Later after losing a foot at the front, he comes to an understanding with Evangeline. The story incidentally gives some sort of answer to the problem whether women ought to be ‘saddled for life’ with men whom they no longer love or respect, merely because they have ‘given themselves to their country.’”—Ath
Ath p31 Ja 2 ’20 100w
“The story proceeds along lines that remain unhackneyed, even when the book becomes, virtually, a war novel. It is a grave, thoughtful piece of work that does the author credit. Its principal defect rises from an error in judgment, which seeks to divide interest and space almost equally with a secondary story.”
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Cath World 111:828 S ’20 280w
“The novel contains some gracefully written descriptions of Glastonbury and of Wales.”
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N Y Times 25:27 Je 27 ’20 420w
“We recommend it as much above the average of the ordinary novel.”
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Sat R 129:41 Ja 10 ’20 90w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p782 D 25 ’19 120w
LOVETT, WILLIAM. Life and struggles of William Lovett in his pursuit of bread, knowledge, and freedom; with some short account of the different associations he belonged to and of the opinions he entertained. 2v ea *$1.50 (1½c) Knopf
20–26886
The books belong to the series of Economic reprints and come with an introduction by R. H. Tawney who says of them that they are more than an autobiography inasmuch as Lovett “was the spokesman of the political labour movement which started with the formation of the London Working men’s association and which developed into Chartism.”
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Ath p784 Je 11 ’20 70w
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Booklist 17:84 N ’20
Boston Transcript p7 Jl 24 ’20 480w
“Not a wholly reliable historical document.” R: Roberts
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Freeman 2:187 N 3 ’20 850w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p195 Mr 25 ’20 1000w
LOW, BARBARA. Psycho-analysis; a brief account of the Freudian theory. *$1.50 (4c) Harcourt 130
20–9413
The author of this brief introduction to psycho-analysis is a member of the British psycho-analytical society, and Ernest Jones, president of the society, writes an introduction for the book. In part he says, “That the deductions made from psycho-analytical investigations are both novel and not easily acceptable, Miss Low makes plain in her book, and she has not adopted the easier way of concealing these attributes of them. She has chosen the loftier aim of attempting to present all aspects of the psycho-analytical theory fairly and straightforwardly, and yet to bring them within reach of those who have made no previous study of the subject.” The chapters take up: The scope and significance of psycho-analysis; Mental life—unconscious and conscious; Repressions; The rôle of the dream; Treatment by psycho-analysis; Probable social and educational results. A list of reference books is given in an appendix.
“The ‘popular’ style of this book defeats, to some extent, the author’s purpose. We should have liked the exposition to be more clear-cut and reserved. As it is, the reader will have some difficulty in grasping the root ideas of the Freudian theory, although, if he is patient, he will find a good deal of information in this book.”
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Ath p589 Ap 30 ’20 80w
“Worth while in defining the science, but too condensed for serious study.”
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Booklist 17:59 N ’20
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Nation 111:694 D 15 ’20 20w
“About the first work on psycho-analysis that can be recommended for general reading is Barbara Low’s ‘Psycho-analysis.’ Of course, Miss Low exaggerates the field to which psycho-analysis is applicable, as she does its therapeutic value.”
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Springf’d Republican p9a Jl 4 ’20 280w
LOW, BENJAMIN ROBBINS CURTIS.[2] Broken music. *$2 Dutton 811
20–20973
“From the four volumes of poems which he had published at intervals during the last ten years or so Mr Low has selected his best work to make this collection of his art. These four volumes, ‘The sailor who sailed,’ ‘A wand and strings,’ ‘The house that was’ and ‘The pursuit of happiness,’ have been much admired and praised by the most discerning critics here and abroad, in spite of which they have had a very moderate circulation.”—Boston Transcript
“There are many of us who would not willingly suppress or forget a good deal of the work in the four volumes of Mr Low’s that he has seen fit not to include in this representative collection, but what he has gathered here makes a very fine spiritual attraction that will win him an increasingly wide circle of new admirers. I think when you get at the core of Mr Low’s art you will find above everything else beautiful thought; and beautiful thought is scarcely to be found without a very intense and passionate emotional foundation.” W: S. Braithwaite
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Boston Transcript p11 D 8 ’20 1400w
“After a careful reading we remain of our old opinion that the leading poem, ‘The vigil-at-arms,’ is Mr Low’s best effort. Elsewhere Mr Low’s work lacks freshness and individuality.”
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N Y Evening Post p22 D 4 ’20 130w
LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL. Function of the poet; and other essays. *$5 (10c) Houghton 814
20–26550
The essays and reviews in this volume have here for the first time been collected into book form and are edited with a preface by Albert Mordell. According to this preface they sustain Lowell’s reputation as one of our great American critics and are in nowise inferior in literary merit to the volumes collected by himself. The essays on poetry and belles-lettres in the volume are: The function of the poet; Humor, wit, fun, and satire; The five indispensable authors (Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Goethe, Shakespeare); The imagination: Critical fragments. Among the reviews of contemporary writers are: Henry James: James’s tales and sketches; Poetry and nationality; W. D. Howells: Venetian life; Edgar A. Poe; Thackeray; Roundabout papers; and the three last essays are: Forster’s life of Swift; Plutarch’s morals; A plea for freedom from speech and figures of speech-makers.
“Especially interesting will be his criticisms of contemporaries—Henry James, Longfellow, Whittier, Howells, Poe and Thackeray.”
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Booklist 16:337 Jl ’20
“They are pleasant, scholarly, informal; they polish off literary subjects gracefully, even if not dazzlingly.”
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Dial 69:321 S ’20 80w
“Mr Mordell has brought together a surprising number of uncollected essays and reviews by Lowell. What is even more surprising in a collection of this kind is that it reveals its author at his best. If Lowell has little to offer a generation which, like ours, expects from literature the very bread of life, he has virtues our contemporary criticism singularly lacks. He has the judgment we gladly dispense with and the verbal felicity we despise, for the lack of which the future will despise and dispense with most of us.”
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Freeman 1:357 Je 23 ’20 1050w
“Throughout the book, as generally in Lowell, are paragraphs, sometimes pages, notable for their beauty, vision, wit, and eminently quotable.”
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Nation 111:191 Ag 14 ’20 470w
Reviewed by Brander Matthews
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N Y Times 25:319 Je 20 ’20 2450w
“Lowell’s abstract reasoning on literature is highly abstract and highly succinct, and its promises for the eye or the palate are not always redeemed in the intellectual stomach. The reviews of contemporaries are very urbane, very judicious, rather measured, rather distant, a little formal.”
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Review 3:111 Ag 4 ’20 300w
“The mingled wisdom and humor of Lowell are apparent everywhere.”
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Springf’d Republican p6 S 27 ’20 840w
LOWIE, ROBERT HARRY. Primitive society. *$3 Boni & Liveright 572
20–7731
“Beginning with the custom of marriage. Dr Lowie studies it through the practice of polygamy, with its side-shoots of polygyny, polyandry, sexual communism, to the family, with its various units, to the kinship usages. The Sib organization, with its history and ramifications, is analyzed and illustrated, the first half of the study of primitive society on its individual side ending at the stage of The position of woman. Then in turn such questions are studied as Property, Associations, Theory of associations, Rank, Government, and Justice.”—Boston Transcript
“The reviewer, a teacher of sociology, is one of a large group who are grateful to Dr Lowie for his service in writing this book.”
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Ann Am Acad 93:225 Ja ’21 w
“Useful for its expansion of data commonly found only in briefer outlines.”
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Booklist 16:303 Je ’20
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Boston Transcript p4 My 19 ’20 380w
“‘Primitive society’ is a worth-while book. It is interestingly written and valuable and readable, even for an amateur anthropologist or sociologist. Its factual solidity makes it of permanent worth in any library.”
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Cath World 111:684 Ag ’20 330w
“Dr Lowie’s book may be recommended as the most informative, lucid, and keenly critical introduction to the study of primitive social organizations that the reviewer is aware of. It deserves the most careful study. Fortunately for the non-professional reader, ‘Primitive society’ is an eminently readable book. The style is crisp and rapid.” E: Sapir
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Dial 69:528 N ’20 2500w
“It would be indeed surprising if ‘Primitive society’ did not win for itself the position of an indispensable guide in a difficult domain.”
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Freeman 1:377 Je 30 ’20 1550w
“All in all, Mr Lowie’s book will do much to render more life-like and substantial our current conceptions of a primitive community.” E: Sapir
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Nation 111:46 Jl 10 ’20 1550w
“Principles or viewpoints are handled with equal skill, the didactic or dogmatic is avoided, indeed, let me say, with extraordinary skill. Dr Lowie is critical of old categories, but not, like many a critic, merely to make way for new, he never handicaps himself with classification. Obviously ‘Primitive society’ will be a welcome book—at least to those who want to know how things are before asking why they are.” E. C. Parsons
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New Repub 24:245 N 3 ’20 1550w
“He has produced a work that will serve as a comprehensive textbook for the student, and that is written in a manner interesting enough to engage the attention of the general reader. His material has been correlated and arranged with skill, and he cites his authorities with a marked care.”
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N Y Times p12 O 31 ’20 1100w
“Dr Lowie reviews the rich material of social organization with a new insight: he discards simple solutions, too much dominated by the active social ties as we know them, and by the desire to read evolutionary conclusions into historical data.” Joseph Jastrow
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Review 3:652 D 29 ’20 740w
LOWIS, CECIL CHAMPAIN. Four blind mice. *$1.75 (1½c) Lane
20–19509
The story is of two married couples in the English colony of Rangoon. Douglas Selbridge is an overworked official and Delia, consequently, a neglected and bored wife. Major Brattlethwaite and his wife are living apart and the latter is nothing but a rumor. The major seeks the company and solace of Delia until matters become strained between herself and her husband. When the absent Mrs Brattlethwaite suddenly appears upon the scene to vanish again immediately, at the same time that the body of a murdered woman is discovered in the jungle, a crisis is reached. A fortunate solution of the mystery not only saves an innocent man from the gallows, but straightens out the domestic relations of the two couples satisfactorily.
“From the point of the murder the story maintains a high level of interest, and reaches a satisfactory conclusion. The domestic and boarding-house scenes have engaging touches of novelty, which suggest a feminine hand.”
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Ath p212 Ag 13 ’20 270w
“The native scenes are more interesting than the troubles of the white folks, the descriptions of the rains, the heat, and native life being well above the average in vividness and picturesque quality.”
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N Y Evening Post p18 D 4 ’20 70w
Spec 124:244 Ag 21 ’20 30w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p426 Jl 1 ’20 130w
LOWNDES, MRS MARIE ADELAIDE (BELLOC). Lonely house. *$1.90 (1½c) Doran
20–10307
Lily Fairfield is a young English girl who has been ordered a change of scene for her health, and therefore has come to visit some distant connections by marriage at their home, “La Solitude,” near Monte Carlo. She finds “La Solitude” to be a lonely isolated house, and leads a rather quiet life, altho shortly it is enlivened by the return of Beppo, the son of the Count and Countess Polda, whose paying-guest she is. As she is something of an heiress, she soon realizes that it is the hope of Beppo’s parents that he will marry her. Indeed the desire for money seems to bulk very large in their lives. But a young Scotsman, Angus Stuart, has already filled the place in her heart that Beppo hopes to occupy, altho she is rather slow to realize the fact. “La Solitude” becomes even more unbearable to her than before after two robberies resulting in murder have been committed nearby, but it is not until an attack is made on Angus Stuart that the real criminals are discovered, and Lily realizes what danger she has been in and how she has escaped it.
Ath p559 Ap 23 ’20 80w
Ath p702 My 28 ’20 420w
“A melodramatic though not unconvincing mystery story.”
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Booklist 17:158 Ja ’21
“The background and atmosphere of these players is wherein Mrs Lowndes has excelled herself. It is all too unfortunate that so able a writer should seek to satisfy shallow desire for excitement rather than to gratify literary taste: of the latter Mrs Lowndes would be very capable should she wish to produce, not a best-seller, dependent upon its author’s noteworthy name, but work of real merit.”
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Cath World 112:111 O ’20 300w
“It is an eery tale, with plenty of atmosphere, one that will keep its readers hanging on the turn of the pages.”
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Lit D p89 O 9 ’20 2350w
“The tale is well written and cleverly developed, incident following incident in a way which keeps the reader’s interest always on the alert, and makes convincing a plot which, though highly melodramatic, is by no means improbable.”
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N Y Times p27 S 12 ’20 300w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p255 Ap 22 ’20 770w
LUCAS, EDWARD VERRALL. Adventures and enthusiasms. il *$2 Doran 824
20–26998
The book contains a collection of short sketches on a variety of subjects such as episodes from life, reminiscences of people and places, reflections and whimsical thoughts. The style is leisurely and full of quiet humor. Some of the sketches are: The perfect guest; A morning call; Possessions; Drake and his game; Davy Jones; Thoughts at the ferry; Telephonics; Thackeray’s school fellow; The newness of the old; On finding things. Fourteen of the sketches bear the common heading: In and about London.
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Booklist 17:105 D ’20
“Mr Lucas would be the first to admit that he challenges comparison with Lamb, and that the advantage is Lamb’s.” N. F. Gerould
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Bookm 52:265 N ’20 320w
“His work is invariably diverting, delicate, sparkling, adapted to the subtlest appreciations.” Margaret Ashmun
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Bookm 52:347 D ’20 80w
Boston Transcript p7 S 1 ’20 780w
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Cath World 112:263 N ’20 350w
“The title under which Mr E. V. Lucas harnesses his latest collection of essays, ‘Adventures and enthusiasms,’ suggests an intensity which is seldom substantiated in the text. These sketches move at a jogging pace, guided by a slack rein, and rarely touched by the whip of fancy.” L. B.
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Freeman 2:22 S 15 ’20 520w
“He writes of all sorts of ordinary, everyday things like aunts and telephones and punctuality, with pleasant leisureliness, with whimsicality and with deep enjoyment.”
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Ind 103:441 D 25 ’20 100w
“Both the adventures and the enthusiasms are mild. Mr Lucas’s taste is generally impeccable and sane.”
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Nation 112:90 Ja 19 ’21 170w
“Mr Lucas’s stories verge upon essays and his essays hover upon the edge of narrative, real or fictitious. They are not easy to classify—and that is another way of saying they make the pleasantest kind of book in the world.” E. L. Pearson
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N Y Evening Post p7 S 25 ’20 800w
“‘Adventures and enthusiasms’ impresses you with its feeling of leisure, of the fullness of time, of the charm of idleness. Life runs full here but not in the impetuous desperate rush of spring, with the sounds of torrents and winds.” Hildegarde Hawthorne
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N Y Times p18 S 26 ’20 800w
“Of all his volumes of essays none is better than his latest.”
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Review 3:389 O 27 ’20 270w
LUCAS, EDWARD VERRALL. Verena in the midst; a kind of story. *$1.90 Doran
20–17824
In this novel in letters, Verena, a maiden lady of some wealth, is the central figure. She has met with an accident to her spine and is obliged to be bed-ridden for months. All the letters are to, from and about her and they all are revealing as to the characters of the writers. The various relatives come to her for counsel and advice and make her the recipient of their confidences. The most frequent interchange of letters is between Verena and an old friend, Richard Haven, the friend that “never disappoints.” His daily message of good cheer, his ever ready counsel, and his daily contribution of poetry, for the sleepless invalid to memorize, are the best parts of the book.
“‘Verena in the midst’ is not to be taken seriously. With the exception of the nephew Roy, who is quite amazingly made known to us, there has been, on the part of the author, no serious attempt at revelation.” K. M.
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Ath p332 S 10 ’20 680w
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Booklist 17:117 D ’20
“It implies no forgetfulness of Mr Lucas’s more solid achievements to say that he is perhaps the chief of those English writers who are doing the little things supremely well. And his fecundity in finding these little things to do is hardly less than his facility in treating them.” Stanley Went
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N Y Evening Post p3 N 6 ’20 1100w
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N Y Times p10 O 17 ’20 400w
“This book is full of humorous twists and surprises and odd bits and ideas and pleasant letters and anecdotes and—I am afraid I shall have to use the poor, over-worked word—whimsicalities.” E. L. Pearson
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Review 3:345 O 20 ’20 100w
“Mr Lucas has surpassed himself. And yet, as is often the case, the idea is so simple that almost anyone might have thought of it.... Almost anyone could have thought of the idea, but is there anyone but Mr Lucas who could have carried it out with so near an approach to perfection?”
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Sat R 130:240 S 18 ’20 750w
“Most of the characterization is very good. To accuse Mr Lucas of slightness of tenuity would be to invite the retort that that was the idea. It is after all a book with which from many writers we should be content.”
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Spec 125:439 O 2 ’20 350w
“Apart from the kindly humor which is their main ingredient, Mr E. V. Lucas’s little nibbles at the novel are in themselves amusing to the critic. The form of fiction appeals to him provided that he can use it on his own terms. He can think of the most delightful sets of people and give them appropriate names; he can write all their letters for them and, at a pinch, carry on their conversation; but always on the condition that they keep still and remain strictly true to type. Unfortunately, in real novels as in real life, it is difficult to keep people still.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p567 S 2 ’20 800w
“In Mr Lucas’ familiar style. It is the sort of thing he does with great deftness.”
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Wis Lib Bul 16:238 D ’20 60w
LUCKIESH, M. Artificial light: its influence upon civilization. (Century books of useful science) il *$2.50 (2½c) Century 628.9
20–11163
The aim of this book is “to show that artificial light has become intricately interwoven with human activities and that it has been a powerful influence upon the progress of civilization.” (Preface) The early chapters deal with primitive forms of lighting, covering such subjects as: The art of making fire; Primitive light-sources; The ceremonial use of light; Oil-lamps of the nineteenth century, and Early gas-lighting. Among the chapters devoted to modern lighting are: The science of light-production; Lighting the streets; Lighthouses; Artificial light in warfare; Signaling; Light and safety; Light and health; Spectacular lighting; Lighting the home; Lighting—a fine art? Reading references come at the close. The author, who is director of applied science, Neia Research laboratory, has written also “Color and its applications,” “The lighting art,” etc.
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Booklist 17:18 O ’20
“Written in a simple yet finished style it gives the general reader a comprehensive and engaging account of illumination.”
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N Y P L New Tech Bks p68 Jl ’20 150w
“The story is told in a surprisingly interesting way. Altogether the book may be regarded as a model for such monographs.”
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Outlook 125:507 Jl 14 ’20 80w
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Review 3:393 O 27 ’20 250w
“An interesting treatment of a fascinating subject.”
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Wis Lib Bul 16:234 D ’20 120w
LUCKIESH, M. Lighting the home, il *$2 Century 644.3
20–17579
The book considers the problem of artificial lighting both from a utilitarian and an aesthetic point of view. “Light,” says the author, “is the most powerful medium we have for creating or accentuating the mood of a room.... Attention to apparently insignificant details of lighting equipment does much toward converting a house into a home.” Among the contents are: Light as an expressive medium; Safeguarding vision; The functions of fixtures; Various rooms; Novelties in lighting; Colored light. There are illustrations and an index.
“Could be used in high school libraries.”
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Booklist 17:144 Ja ’21
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Boston Transcript p8 N 20 ’20 230w
LUCY, SIR HENRY WILLIAM (TOBY, M. P., pseud.).[2] Diary of a journalist. $6 Dutton
“Politicians, statesmen, authors, actors, painters, princes, journalists, social leaders, and men and women in many other professional walks of life throng the pages of Sir Henry Lucy’s volume. It covers a long period of years from 1885 almost to the present day, and it is rich in the personality encountered by a newspaper writer and editor who has come into daily contact with the events and the people of his time. In his previous volume entitled ‘Sixty years in the wilderness,’ Sir Henry Lucy has told a consecutive story of his career, in this latest volume he supplements it with material which resulting from ‘the habit dominant through many years of daily noting interesting events coming within personal observation’ yields ‘a collection personally, politically and historically interesting.’”—Boston Transcript
“Except for a few jokes, we find very little of interest in this record. In his phrases we sometimes recognize the flavour of the official biography. In particular he has one trick very characteristic of those works. It is to make statements about his hero, with the air of suggesting an exceptional virtue, which hold good of practically everybody in the world.”
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Ath p551 O 22 ’20 330w
“An entertaining book of personal reminiscence.” E. F. Edgett
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Boston Transcript p4 D 31 ’20 1050w
“‘Recollections of a journalist’ would perhaps be a more suitable title, and certainly Sir Henry Lucy’s recollections are singularly rich and varied.”
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N Y Evening Post p10 Ja 29 ’21 420w
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N Y Times p6 Ja 9 ’21 1450w
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Springf’d Republican p6 D 25 ’20 180w (Reprinted from The Times [London] Lit Sup p664 O 14 ’20)
“The worst that one can say about Sir Henry Lucy’s diary is that no one would ever have suspected it of being a diary if the author had not so labelled it. It has obviously been revised in the light of subsequent events. Why has the book no index? It is just the sort of book that especially needs one.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p664 O 14 ’20 750w
LUDENDORFF, ERICH VON.[2] General staff and its problems: the secret history of the relations between the High Command and the German Imperial government as revealed by official documents; tr. by F. Appleby Holt. 2v *$15 Dutton 940.343
20–22469
“The statements in Ludendorff’s first volume were so bold that there arose a demand for the source on which he based many of his sensational assertions. This demand the former Quartermaster-General of the German armies now seeks to meet in a second volume.” (N Y Times) “Among the documents included are the report of the conference between Bethmann-Hollweg, Hindenburg and Ludendorff at Pless, when the unrestricted submarine campaign was finally decided upon, and the violent letters exchanged between the chancellor, Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and the foreign office revealing the internal difficulties of Germany in 1916. The matter of American participation, as the German authorities viewed and discussed it, is gone into thoroughly.” (Springf’d Republican)
Reviewed by Simeon Strunsky
N Y Evening Post p1 Ja 29 ’21 2900w
Reviewed by T. R. Ybarra
N Y Times p3 D 5 ’20 1850w
R of Rs 53:222 F ’21 120w
Springf’d Republican p8 D 18 ’20 150w
LUDENDORFF, ERICH VON. Ludendorff’s own story, August 1914–November 1918. il 2v *$7.50 (3c) Harper 940.343
20–4133
“The great war from the siege of Liege to the signing of the armistice as viewed from the grand headquarters of the German army.” (Subtitle) What the author calls the first commandment for a German “unselfish submission and the sinking of the ego in national discipline” characterizes this grim account of one who, with an eye single, was bent on the winning of the war. Volume 1 falls into two parts: the author’s career as chief of the general staff on the eastern front; and from his appointment as first quartermaster-general. Volume 2 begins with the entente offensive in the first half of 1917, the Russian revolution and America’s entry into the war and ends with the armistice and the end of Ludendorff’s military career. The books contain many maps and each has a loose map in a cover pocket. Volume 2 has an index.
“He gives a wealth of interesting comment and ex parte statement of motives, intentions, and expectations, which he does not prove. His treatment of the administrative and political sides of the war is the best part of the work. His accounts of battles are in many cases unsatisfactory. As a whole the translation is good.” J: Bigelow
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Am Hist R 25:503 Ap ’20 1200w
“Of interest, not only for the record of military events by one of the most prominent military leaders, but also for the light it throws on the mental attitude and processes of the author.”
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Am Pol Sci R 14:359 My ’20 170w
“The one great military book which the war has so far produced is the strange record of General Ludendorff.”
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Ath p1286 D 5 ’19 1550w
Booklist 16:275 My ’20
Reviewed by W. C. Abbott
Bookm 51:286 My ’20 950w
Dial 68:539 Ap ’20 100w
Lit D p109 Ap 17 ’20 2550w
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Nation 110:sup481 Ap 10 ’20 1350w
Reviewed by M. F. Egan
N Y Times 25:1 Mr 7 ’20 3200w
Reviewed by M. H. Anderson
Pub W 97:608 F 21 ’20 300w
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R of Rs 61:335 Mr ’20 120w
“Ludendorff may be read with profit by those interested in the handling of troops in contact with the enemy.... He exhibits the best and the worst qualities of the old-fashioned amongst regular soldiers. He knows his work as a handler of fighting men, but outside the realms of factors he is a simple and bewildered soul. And, let it be repeated, as a strategist, he is almost infinitely naive.”
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Sat R 128:417 N 1 ’19 2300w
“General Ludendorff has written a very able and interesting book on the war. It is not a good military history, though the summary accounts of the earlier Russian campaigns are instructive. The numerous plans and diagrams by the author are valuable also in their way. But the book throws a flood of light on the hopes and fears of the great general staff, and on the relations between the German army leaders and the politicians in Berlin. To an English reader, of course, this typical Prussian author must be unsympathetic.”
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Spec 123:505 O 18 ’19 2100w
“Ludendorff’s war memoirs are the most solid contribution to the strategical history of the war that has yet appeared. To the military student the most valuable portion is that dealing with the Russian campaign of 1914 and 1915; but in spite of the great military eminence of the writer, this is a book for the plain citizen rather than the soldier, for quite half of it is politics.”
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The Times [London] Lit Sup p557 O 16 ’19 1850w
LUEHRMANN, ADELE. Triple mystery. *$1.75 Dodd
20–7518
“Here Adele Luehrmann has evolved a situation where three men of prominence of the same nationality and presumably of similar interests, all die with sudden and unexplained mystery within a few days of each other. The first effort seems to be to throw suspicion upon Olive Thrace, who has reason to be anxious to be rid of Zarady, the great concert master. The second death brings in the element of the girl with the squirrel cap. The actual solution of the triple mystery is a surprise.”—Boston Transcript
Booklist 16:349 Jl ’20
Boston Transcript p6 Jl 3 ’20 220w
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Cleveland p72 Ag ’20 40w
“The author has not succeeded at any point in really intriguing the reader. The characters are obviously puppets to string the story on: sheep fattened for slaughter. The dénouement is lacking in ingenuity.”
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N Y Times 25:320 Je 20 ’20 220w
LUMHOLTZ, KARL SOFUS. Through central Borneo; an account of two years’ travel in the land of the head-hunters between the years 1913 and 1917. 2v il *$7.50 Scribner 919.11
20–16918
“Reaching the island which has been the object of his journey, Mr Lumholtz first gives us a comprehensive idea of its climate and the biological conditions which there exist, its natural resources, its population, history, government and racial problems. Presently he plunges into the jungle and shows us first its wonderful vegetation, and next its strange people. He takes us up the vast rivers, noting the habits of the people by the way. To his narrative the author adds a considerable number of folklore stories drawn directly from the natives, stories doubtless handed down orally for many generations. The author embellishes his volumes with profuse illustrations, many of them from photographs taken by himself.”—Boston Transcript
“A happy combination of scientific study with journalistic ease of style and choice of interesting material.”
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Booklist 17:111 D ’20
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Bookm 52:367 D ’20 110w
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Boston Transcript p6 O 16 ’20 650w
“Because he went into such an unknown region his book has the atmosphere of Hakluyt or Purchas. The photographs which illustrate the book are excellent.” J. F. Gould
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N Y Evening Post p8 Ja 8 ’21 960w
“The author’s style is one of extreme simplicity, and his material is presented in a form that should prove attractive to scientist and layman alike.” B. R. Redman
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N Y Times p9 O 31 ’20 1150w
“Mr Lumholtz knows how to write entertainingly as well as how to observe with scientific accuracy.”
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Outlook 126:334 O 20 ’20 60w
LUTHER, MARK LEE. Presenting Jane McRae. il *$1.75 (1½c) Little
20–10734
When Jane McRae is first presented she is acting as waitress in her step-father’s hotel in a small “up-state” New York town. Here she comes in contact with Stuart Pendleton, a young civil engineer, and with Arthur Gault, a movie singer. With Stuart she falls in love, but refuses to marry him when she learns of his previous entanglement with another woman. Leaving unbearable conditions at home, she goes to New York to support herself. At the end of her resources, she again meets Arthur Gault, who is now a moving picture director. He gets her a small part in his picture and finally persuades her to marry him. She becomes more and more successful as an actress, but is not happy. She realizes that her marriage to Arthur was a mistake, but does not see the way out. But when the war comes and frees her from him, the manner of his death leaves her still with an unanswerable question. “It did not occur to her that she was free.”
“To tell the truth all this business of Jane and the engineer, from beginning to end, is unreal and commonplace. Jane herself is least credible and desirable whenever that young man is brought on the scene. Except his good looks and his fine phrases, there is nothing or next to nothing ‘to him.’ What ‘makes’ the book is its study of Jane in relation to the movie man.” H. W. Boynton
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Bookm 52:70 S ’20 650w
“On the whole, it is a quick-moving and interesting tale.”
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Boston Transcript p6 Ag 7 ’20 180w
“Very long and not very interesting. Some of the motion-picture parts of the book are not unentertaining, while of the characters Arthur Gault is by all odds the best, at times becoming a real human being.”
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N Y Times 25:31 Jl 18 ’20 300w
“An agreeable little comedy of life not without serious import also.”
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Outlook 125:615 Ag 4 ’20 50w
LUTZ, EDWIN GEORGE. Animated cartoons. il *$2.50 Scribner 778
20–3350
“E. G. Lutz answers many an unspoken question about the movies by telling very explicitly how an artist gets motion into his drawings. After two chapters of history upon their origin and development he goes into a description of the successive steps in the production of various kinds of screen pictures in action. It all seems very simple after being carefully explained in both text and illustrations.”—Springf’d Republican
Ath p408 S 24 ’20 100w
Booklist 16:232 Ap ’20
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N Y P L New Tech Bks p39 Ap ’20 70w
Outlook 124:431 Mr 10 ’20 50w
“The book is interesting as catering to the universal desire to see the wheels go round.”
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Springf’d Republican p8 Mr 25 ’20 240w
The Times [London] Lit Sup p603 S 16 ’20 90w