19 APRIL 1940, Page 32

Inside War-Time Europe

Inside Europe. By John Gunther (War Edition, to January, 1940). (Hamish Hamilton. I25. 6d.) Inside Europe. By John Gunther (War Edition, to January, 1940). (Hamish Hamilton. I25. 6d.)

THE success earlier editions of Mr. John Gunther's Inside Europe have achieved testifies to the public demand for, and appreciation of, a personal and dramatic survey, making no pretence of much profundity, of the events and situations throughout Europe that finally plunged three Great Powers into " Hitler's war." In this last edition the whole book has been revised, and an introduction and a narrative chapter, "Munich to Warsaw," added. Neither adds, or claims to add, to our existing knowledge, but both are accurate, and occa- sional omissions are a matter of opinion and need not be stressed. Two points of interest are the statement that German pilots who took part in raids on Scotland said they were subject to court martial and possible death penalty if by mistake they bombed open towns, and Mr. Gunther's estimate that the German air force has about a ten to seven superiority over British and French air fleets combined. On the political side Mr. Gunther gives it as his view (and he is unquestionably right) that in the Munich negotiations "Mr. Chamberlain's motive was completely simple and •of the best—to avert war "- and he is equally right in adding that in spite of the price that had to be paid, the great mass of both the British and the French peoples stood behind him. The revised Inside Europe should make as wide an appeal as the original edition.