Some Books of the Week
Politicians and the War, 1914-1916, by Lord Beaverbrook (Thornton Butterworth, 10s. 6d.), is a curious and striking book. The untidiness of Lord Beaverbrook (as revealed on the dust-jacket picture) is only of the outer man : his hair is not brushed, but the grey matter beneath it works with admirable smoothness and precision. The reader finds himself caught up in a huge and infectious enthusiasm for intrigue ; at times he is disgusted, as we presume the author means him to be disgusted, with the dilatory and devious methods of men accustomed to talk rather than action, but on the whole Lord Beaverbrook makes us feel that there was a drama comparable to the drama of the trenches going on at home. There is a complete absence of hero-worship, yet the great figures stand out prominently. Lord Kitchener, Asquith, Lloyd George, and above all, perhaps, Bonar Law appear in their true proportions, unheroic certainly, but very human, and with none of the nauseating gossip and innuendo that disfigure some recent memoirs. As a contribution to history we doubt whether Lord Beaverbrook has been frank enough in telling us of the heroes of Downing Street, but his account of the intrigues that surrounded Kitchener, and his estimate of the character and influence of that great public servant, is undeniably vivid and insighted. We hope for a sequel.
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