30 JULY 1965, page 18

Race And Retribution

The Fractured Smile. By Kathleen Sully. (Peter Davies, 18s.) The Strode Venturer. By Hammond Innes' (Collins, 21s.) The Needle's Eye. By Errol Brathwaite. (Collins , 21s.) IT......

Archives Of War

The Battle of El Alamein. By Fred Majdalany. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 25s.) IN his preface to the 1930 edition of his already famous book, Edmund Blunden modestly re- ferred to......

Whither Russia?

The Catkin and the Icicle : Aspects of Russia. By John Gooding. (Constable, 30s.) THIS book is a joy. 'As historian, Russian- speaker, poet in prose, John Gooding has written......