MR. WELLES is probably the least well known of the
spokesmen of the Roosevelt administration. His past career has- not saved him from charges of imperialism, his openly professed and practised democratic principles have not kept him from being regarded as a Fascist. His economic and educational background (which are identical with Mr. Roosevelt's) have been held against him. It is a pity, then, that the jacket of this book should be adorned with a picture of Mr. Welles in white tie and tails, looking as formidable as possible (which is saying a lot) and as little like a common man as is consistent with the biological facts. But the contents of the book redeem the cover, for Mr. Welles is an admirably clear, forceful and, in a grimly-controlled way, moving speaker. The period between September, 1939, and February, 1943, covered by this book saw even more dramatic changes than the most pessimistic or revolu- tionary observer can have expected in 1939. Not all of this book reads equally well ; some sections are marked by that necessary professional special-pleading that is imposed on Mr. Welles by his position as the second-in-command of the State Department. But if Jess optimistic and bonhomous than Messrs. Wallace and Willkie, Mr. Welles is more humane, and so more realistic, than the world-thinkers of the Luce school. He will repay watching—and reading.
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