27 JULY 1962, Page 8

In the Family The Editor says that we shouldn't review

books by members of the staff. If the review's good, it smells slightly fishy; if it's murderous, then there's the temptation to get someone to write a re- joinder saying that of course the reviewer is a very clever lady, but liable to swing her hatchet at random. But that's no reason why I shouldn't indicate discreetly that our own Bamber Gascoigne has just published a book on Twentieth Century Drama.* This is an historical and critical survey, the first part discussing why certain kinds of play were written in particular decades, the second part getting down to extended studies of nine major dramatists, from Pirandello and O'Neill to T. S. Eliot and Tennessee Williams.