11 NOVEMBER 1955, Page 27

T HE CALL TO HONOUR. By Charles de Gaulle.

Vol. I and documents. (Collins, 18s. and 25s.) THESE lapidary memoirs of the most lapidary of the Allied war leaders have already been reviewed in the Spectator by Professor Brogan at the time of the appearance of the French edition. Jonathan Griffin's translation seems to convey the original style very well indeed, though he cannot avoid the inevitable ugliness which attends on the translation into English of certain common French words ('sobs' for sanglots, for instance). For anyone who wants to know how Frenchmen think and what are the real grass-roots of French patriotism this book is required reading. ANTHONY HARTLEY