Evening Star Newspaper, May 17, 1931, Page 91

THE ROAD BACEK. By Erich Maria Remarque, author of “All Quiet on the Wesie'n, Front.” Boston. Little, Brown & Co. T is probable that such books as “All Quiet on the Western Pront” and “The Road Back,” if they are well read in all the 25 languages in which thcy have been - printed, will do more for universal peace than all the international disarmament conferences. These two volumes by the young German, Erich Maria Remarque, have placed the author in the vanguard of those who seek to show the utter uselessness and horror of war. They have dropped all thought of glamour, of billowing flags and martial airs; they tell us of the waste of the battlefield, the human derelicts left strewn in the path of the batile monster; the return to a homeland that has ceased to be a homeland; the breaking up of a social life, and, more than all else, the des'ruc- tion of a nation’s young manhood—mentally, spiritually and physically. What gain to a man, we asl, if his breast be covereg with medals and his hands be smeared with thc blood of his fellow men? This young man, Remarque, whose newest volume, “The Road Back,” has just left the presses, is a writer who is gaining in power. He has brought forth a finer book than “All Quiet,” his first effort. He has selected a wider canvas upon which to paint his word pictures of post-war Germany. He delves deeply into the hearts of his comrades, and then tells, in supe:b language, episodes in the lives of these disillusioned fighting men. The book is a series of cpisodes, linked closely together in such mannecr that their very lack of continuity para- doxieally binds them as a whole. Thus, they place their writer among the inspired men of letters, a master craftsman who gives his mes- sage to the world by means of the novel. It is rather difficult to detail “The Road Back,” but it follows the experience of the few survivors of a German company after peace has been declared. The men, returning to their homes, find their land in a state of chaos—rev- olution, social upheaval, starvation, profiteering —and each man among the survivors finds his own troubles confronting him. The matter of readjustment is & difficult one, especially in a homeland torn by strife and going through a process of . One is given the impression that the returned fighting men, the heroes of a few months before, became a large and unwieldy nuisance, looked down upon by the civilian population, simply tolerated even in their home lves. They had formed war- time habits that were difficult to cast aside; they were government charges, and yet there was no government to throw & protecting arm around them. They became & wandering, rather disreputable body of men, each with his own problems to solve. Some were bothered with visions of war horrors, and, had they been victorious, these would have been easier to throw aside. The writer never became bitter, never sentimental, in telling these little stories of the retirned soldiers. Rather, his sureness of touch and the sensitive handling of his theme gives one to understand that there is only one way out—the end of all warfare. The wrecks of war who pass in the foreground of “The Road Back” are more or less typical, at least with defeated armies, and those men the hselves have long since reached a conclusion. Erich Maria Remarque, the author, simply and un- ostentatiously places their thoughts and actions betwcen the covers of a book—a book which trenslated into 25 langusges, should and prob- ably will be, read over the entire world. The English transiation is splendidly done, losing nothins of its original German touch. ¢ C. E N. THUNDER OVER EUROPE. By E. Alexander Powell, author ¢f “Embattled Borders,” “The Last Home of Mystery,” etc. Illustrated. Washburn Co. OL. POWELL of Chevy Chase, Md, has given thinking readers a book of unusual interest, which will compel the interest of all students .of European affairs. In no mincing words, the author has delved into the economie and political situation abroad, giving an analy- sis without fear or favor. In fact, he begs the pardon in his preface of many foreign leaders who have aided him in his study for giving to his readers what he believes to be the truth. Trree important findings are brought out in * Thunder Over Europe.” First, Col. Powell, deszits the fact that the horizon of Europe is engulfed by troublesome clouds, sees no immi- nent danger of war, The coming of war in th> future, he asserts, can be averted by re- moving the causes of war by good statesman- ship, not disarmament. Second, the author believes that the League of Nations has failed in many instances to protzct the interests of smaller nations. He calls the league a joke and a tragic one. “No matter how Utopian the ideals of the founders were,” he states, “no matter how lofty their aims, it has not proved itself an agency for en- forcing or righting wrongs.” Third, the writer, finds sovietism and communism at present to be the same. He states that he believes the so- called five-year-plan dangerous to the welfare of the world. He is solidly against recognition of Russia by the United States and goes so far as to say that those who are in favor of such recognition are blindly ignorant, treacherous or motivated by selfish desires. “The events which are cccurring in Soviet Russia are so extraordi- nary,” he writes, “so wholly without parallc]l, so pregnant with peril to the peace of the world that the American people should be awakened to the sinister nature of the forces behind them.” Col. Powell’s analytic survey includes Hittler- ism, Poland, Franee, Albania, Italy and nations whose origin have come since the world war. The author points out the danger spots of Europe, such as the Corridor and Albania, giv- ing the viewpoints of many of their eitizens. In writing of Mussolini, he says that “the beli- ®ose utterances and saber rattlings should not THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 17, 1931 “The Road Back’ From the Author of *‘All Quiet on the Western Front”—That “Thunder Over Europe” and Several Nezw Novels. ! I e "ll'] » ||“" L AT Erich Maria Remarque, author of “T wood cut by be taken at face value, They are largely for home consumpiion. The Italian dictator, far from being as impetuous and hot-headed as he lets himself appear, is an exceedingly astute and able statesman.” - This latest effort of Col. Powell will com- mand attention and will provoke much dis- cussion for some time to come. o &R THE POLITICAL STATUS OF msARABIA.. By Andrei Popovici, Ph. D., Washington, D. C.: Ransdell, Inc. Published for the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown Uni- versity. MY new friend, John Mistletoe, says an atlas is the best of all books on literature. Right. Best of all books, besides, on history— military, political, economic—on art and reli- gion, on many another familiar aptitude and attitude of man. So, open up an atlas to the map showing Russia in its giant's sprawl out of the Mongo- lian desert into Eastern Burope. On its west« ern border is a strip, the region we are seeking, Bessarabia. Race and tradition make this country a part of Rumania. Both of them next of kin to the older Moldavia, which is a step ahead in the great sunset press of Tatar and Turk and Vandal and Goth and Hun, along with- other whatnot of “restless, questing, fighting tribes and peoples on the march, A sizable region, Bessarabia, so the atlas says, An asset to the industrial purposes and plans of the modern mechanistic supremacy. A prise to be sought, to be held if caught, by a young state bent upon a career of industry, of par- taking more and more fully in the world’s he Road Back.” Bertrand Zadig. Reproduction from a regain its former political status as a part of " the Rumanian homeland. Dr. Andrei Popovici, Rumanian in blood and outlook and training, here offers to students and readers an authentic and understanding statement of the problem of Bessarabia. In the main a pclitical problem, complicated ‘by the economic value of the country which, at the moment, greatly increases its desirability to the feverishly active industrialism of Soviet Russia, In original purpose this study was under- taken as a thesis for the degree of doctor of rhiloscphy at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Such purpose, as mat- ter of course, set the high standard of work- manship th:t is manifest throughout its de- velopment. The basic proposition is that Bessarabia is, poliiically, a part of Rumania rather than a part of Russia. Since political relations are parts of historical growth and vicissitude, Dr. Popovici founds his study upon a survey ofe the history of Bessarabia, sketching tersely the main changes that have comec to this area thrcugh the conturies of stampede, East bate tling toward the West by way of the harried Balkan states. The emphasis of this study if good. The swift start and rapid sweep. Theni the slowing up toward the momentous presenty the deeper stresses, the greater dctail so nctess sary for a fair and adequaté view of the situas tion as it now fron's not only upon Bassarzbia, but upon the world as well. Natural resources, the quality of the permanent occupants of the region, the forms of government developed by them, their progress in industry and the arts, the fiber of their statesmanship, the deep root- age of all' the people in the soil. Here a swif¢ and colorful panorama that much of the time is clear drama, notwithstanding the fact that this is an ordered, authentic study. Mere graphic diagram at certain points where sstatistics cover summaries of fact and change. Certainiy thq arguments converges upon reasons why Bessas rabia should become and should remain a po« litical part of Rumania. That it should no§ suffer the menace of any reversion to the Come munistic Russian Soviet is equally clear and forcetul, il An open study carrying no concealments. A sincere effort toward a deeply espoused causdy Continued on Eighteenth Page 1 Books Received THE SCREAM OF THE DOLL. A Mystery Reverse. By Stanley Kidder Wilson. N York: Duffield & Co. THE REMBRANDT MURDER. By Hen James Forman, author of “Guilt,” etc. N York: Richard R. Smith, Inc. - THE HYMN TUNE MYSTERY. By Georgd Birmingham, author of “Wild Justice,” ete, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co. THE THREE - CORNEREDP WOUND. By - George Dyer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, THE RYNOX MURDER MYSTERY. By P MacDonald, author of “The White Crow, etc. New York: Deubleday, Doran & Ce. THE MURDER AT AVALON ARMS. By Oweg Fox Jerome, author of “The Hand of Hore ror,” etc. New York: Edward J. Clode, Ing, FOURTH DEGREE. A Mystery Novel. By afl. Daiger. Philadelphia: Macrae-Smitll 4 THUNDER OVER EUROPE By E. ALEXANDER POWELL Author of “The Last Home of Mystery'’, “Embattied Borders", etc. Deals frankly and fearlessly with the forces which ore jeopardizing the peace of the , world in the most complete exposé of po- litical conditions abroad ever published. At Your Bookseller’s— Illustrated, $3.00 IVES WASHBURN, New York NOW...read The Whole Story by the One Man Who Knows It! General John J. PERSHING’S €Complete, finally revised account MY EXPERIENCES .5 WORLD WAR “A great story ably told” — Arlantic Monthly. : 2 Volumes, lavishly illstrated, $10 per oft. Get it today ot your bookshop.. : s v . 443 4h Ave. FREDERICK A. 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