3 JANUARY 1941, Page 26

Concerning Winston Churchill. By Sir George Arthur. kfleine- mann. 6s.)

WRITING biographies of the Prime Minister is a popular diversion in these days, and if anyone is making a collection of these publications there is no reason why Sir George Arthur's book should not have a place in it. It is an extremely discursive pro- duction-but that has its merits, since it allows several good stories of no real relevance to be dragged in-and very strangely proportioned. The 13 tale of Omdurman, for example, in which the present Prime Minister took part, gets fifteen pages ; twelve are sufficient for the eight years 1918-26, in the course of which Mr. Churchill held the offices of Secretary for War, Air and the Colonies and Chancellor of the Ecchequer. There is a fine crop of misprints, but when a reference to such a person as Burke occurs in the text we are obligingly told in a footnote that this means " the Rt. Hon. E. Burke, 1729-1797." Similarly with Bright. This is very helpful.