HE political situation in North Africa remains as static as the military, and signs of progress are as much to be desired in the ne field as in the other. Mr. Macmillan has by...

Iraq's declaration of war on Germany, Italy and Japan has been made with the full assent of both Houses of Parliament, and with- out any pressure from the United Nations. It...

It will be impossible for any humane person, or for that matter, any humane Government, to be unmoved by the appeal made in the Sunday Times by Mr. Howard Kershner, Director of...

The statement made by Mr Attlee in the House of Commons on Tuesday regarding the action of the British and Allied Govern- ments in face of Hitler's threats to exterminate the...

Berlin has been followed by the bombing of London, and the Berlin papers, with a mixture of bluster and appeal, are suggesting that it is better for neither capital than for...

In his speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday Mr Lyttelton not only emphasised the fact that 1943 is to be the pe year of production, using the labour of every available man...

On two aspects of the Beveridge Report questioners in the House of Commons on Tuesday got small satisfaction. Regarding the A.B.C.A. affair (which Mr. Harold Nicolson discusses...

Many lessons were learned during and after the last war in regard to provision for disabled men which must be applied and extended in the present war. The report issued last...

Throughout the last three years the demands have been taking ape. The Government itself, through various Ministers, depart- ents and committees, has been making inquiries, and...

T HE resumption of raids on Berlin and London makes it relevant to consider what force the Luftwaffe could in case of need mobilise for attacks on this country. An article on...

By STRATEG1CUS Consider first the achievement of the Eighth Army. It is clear that Rommel has fulfilled his function of delay and succeeded in escaping the Eighth Army's...

By PIERRE MAILLAUD I T is a sad thought that through the injury of defeat the soul and body of France should have become not only a playground for the barbarian but also a...

By SIR RICHARD LIVINGSTONE (President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford) AKE (in happier times) an air-cruise over the Scandinavian lands, and you will see, scattered about the...

By A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT T HERE are certain questions about which the public mind ought to be more disturbed than it is. One is the position of persons detained under Defence...

By SIR STEPHEN TALLENTS T HE walnuts of England did their bit manfully last autumn. Gilbert White, recording in his journal a bumper walnut crop in 1788, notes that it went...

By HAROLD NICOLSON I N the House of Commons, on Tuesday, Mr. Dugdale asked the Secretary of State for War why the War Office with- drew from circulation the pamphlet on his own...

B.B.C. Brains Trust." For future release." Casablanca." At Warner's and the..kegal. Ar what level of audience intelligence does the wise film producer aim? The answer clearly...

spirals across the pale blue china sky, and August afternoon hangs bright with pinpoint sounds, with penetrating light. The rooks like small black ashes turn and drop abruptly...

ART THE New Year exhibition at the Leicester Galleries is a mixed, and rather over-large, bag of pictures by younger English painters, and by minor masters, English and French....

The Desert Song." At the Prince of Wales Theatre. Hr distance we have travelled since the last war may be shown of only in such social phenomena as the public interest in...

C] to pl de 04 L] N; in Re re: ho m; en no wl is gu wl Hi im the wl ag if to an be ch wt tel ca Stn, Two passages in your Note on this subject puzzle me. The first is...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR receive with much pleasure, although belatedly, most numbers of The Spectator, and am particularly interested in the Marginal Com- ments of Mr. Harold...

Sit,—Your contributor on January 8th rightly says that the question of A World Air Force needs to be discussed, and he couples with it the wider conception of an International...

Snt,—Mr. Harold Nicolson in his article in your issue of January ii5th says: " Retribution there must be, in order to convince the Axis countries, &c." He then outlines a policy...

Silt,—The probability that America will be able to monopolise the world's air traffic after the war, although admitted with reluctance by Government spokesmen in the House, will...

Sm,—In view of your sustained and vigorous attack upon the Inter- collegiate University and the University of Sulgrave which has recently been inaugurated, I am wondering if you...

Sm,—The elimination of Admijal Darlan has by no means brought about a clear situation in French Africa. Darlan and the other adherents of Vichy who profess to have come over to...

SIR,—I am sure we should all like to support Mr. A. V. Alexander in his appeal to " the nation " to see that the Fleet Air Arm is equipped with the most modern 'planes we can...

Tan most deeply engrooved countryman must confess that London i s a notable rival, and its rus in urbe seems to grow more rural. Perhaps this is due to the keener observation of...

Stn,—In his " Marginal Comment " Mr. Harold Nicolson says: " There are few of us who do not regret Hudson Lowe." I am afraid he is right. The " few " are those who know the...

MR. ZIFF'S book inevitably challenges comparison with Major A. de Seversky's Victory Through Air Power. Both preach a modernised Douhetism. Both are full-blooded expositions of...

Planned Science Science and World Order. By J. G. Crowther, 0. J. R. Howarth and D. P. Riley. (Penguin Books. 9d.) Science in Soviet Russia. By Seven British Scientists....

We Landed at Dawn. By A. B. Austin. (Gollancz. 78. 6d.) MR. AusTiN occupies a curiously fortunate position among British journalists. He contrives to combine the technique of...

Behind the Urals. By John Scott. (Seeker and Warburg. 7s. 6d.) IN 1932, at the age of 20, John Scott, equipped with a university education, a welder's certificate and a spirit...

The Pub and the People. By Mass Observation. (Gollanez. 16s.) I DOUBT whether it is merely prejudiced to suppose that a book should either be objective and scientific or a...

We Shall Return. By Jack Lindsay. (Dakers. 8s. 6d.) Ding Dong Dell. By Joan Morgan. (Chapman and Hall. 8s. 6d.) And Now Tomorrow. By Rachel Field. (Collins. 8s. 6d.) How Can We...

Lucretia Borgia : The Chronicle of Tebaldeo Tebaldef. By Algernon Charles Swinburne. Foreword, Commentary and Notes.by Randolph Hughes. (Golden Cockerel Press. 4 gns.) A...

Book Token for one guinea will c, awarded to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword to be opened alter noon on Tuesday week. Envelopes should be...

The winner of Crossword No. 200 is LADY BAGSHAWE, Bramble- haw, Lower Bourn; Farnham, Surrey.

in England. By Denis Gwynn. (Burns Oates. 9s.) MR. GWYNN has written a humane and well-balanced study of the Catholic Revival in England immediately before and after the...

By CUSTOS As expected, the year has opened well in the stock markets. While there is no rush to buy, most groups, especially gilt-edged and well- secured prior charges, are...