14 MAY 1948, Page 5

I hope the publishers of Mr. Churchill's latest memoirs have

been piling up a stock of paper for the last year or two in pre- paration for the appearance of his first volume in September. By all accounts demand will exceed supply fantastically. I hear of one well-known group of book-shops which has so far accepted orders for 14,000 copies, all of which, according to my information, have actually (and hopefully) been paid for. Even if that were only multiplied tenfold for the country as a whole you would need an edition far beyond what any publisher could hope in present condi- tions to supply. Of Mr. Lloyd George's War Memoirs an edition of 2o,000, I believe, was printed, at a time when there was no paper shortage. * * * *