28 MARCH 1941, Page 24

The Geneva Racket (1920-1939). By Robert Dell. (Robert Hale. xga.)

THE author of this book has died since it was written. In such circumstances it would be an ungrateful task to criticise in detail a volume which it is impossible to praise. The very title of the book condemns it. The League of Nations may have been a failure and disappointment, but if it had been a " racket," or anything resembling a racket, it is inconceivable that men like Sir Austen Chamberlain, M. Briand, Dr. Nansen, Lord Cecil and Dr. Benes should have retained their faith in it as they did. Both in his assertions and his omissions Mr. Dell shows grave bias, usually against his own country. His book is described as " a truly amazing document." Actually it is for the most part a surprisingly dull document, heavily overloaded with complicated and superfluous detail—surprisingly, for Mr. Dell was an able journalist with an attractively clear and lively style.