Margaret McMillan. A Memoir by D'Arcy Cresswell. With a Fore-
word by J. B. Priestley. (Hutchinson. 10s. 6d.)
" HE can rise to the level of his subject," Mr. Priestley says of the author of the new life of Margaret McMillan. Many readers will disagree. The story Mr. Cresswell has to tell is moving—the passion for social justice of the two sisters who had come early from America to the rather dour atmosphere of Inverness ; their support of Socialism ; the development of Margaret from a governess and companion to a speaker and writer ; the appeal for support from the I.L.P. at Bradford ' • and finally, when as a member of a School Board she had seen how slum children were living, the long struggle (largely successful) for reform, concluding with the nursery school at Deptford and fame. Mr. Cresswell had much material to draw on, since Margaret herself wrote a biography of her sister, and Dr. Mansbridge, a year after her death in z931, published a " life " accompanied by many friends' comments. This new biographer tells his story in a lively—sometimes over-lively—way, and includes back- ground information and sketches of other reformers. But his personal comments are so facile and tedious, his Left-wing indignation so violent, that he spoils his effects. A large number of excellent photographs is included, not all of them with a direct bearing on the life. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Margaret McMillan Memorial Fund.
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