30 DECEMBER 1949, Page 26

Tito. By George Bilainkin. (Williams and Norgate. los. 6d.)

THIS book purports to supplement the biography of Tito with hitherto unpublished facts. It seems to be designed primarily for the enlightenment of a class of people who are referred to on the opening page as " innocent audibles "—a description on which the only possible comment is "sic." It is difficult to judge exactly (though it is easy to guess) how far Mr. Bilainkin fulfils his purpose, by reason of the fact that the book has no index and few references of any special value (despite an explicit undertaking at the beginning). Typical of the general character of his narrative is the introduction on page 77, without the least relevance either to Tito or to the subject in hand, of an anecdote describing how the author success-

fully intervened with Mr. Churchill in 1940, acting on information from M. Maisky and using Mr. Joseph P. Kennedy as go-between,

to secure for Sir Stafford Cripps his letters of credence as British Ambassador in Moscow. The production of the book being on a level with the writing, this is one of those occasions when the dis- criminating reader can unhesitatingly be recommended not to waste half a guinea.