Shorter notices
Pushkin David Margarshack (Chapman and Hall 63s). The first English biography for thirty years of the famous Russian writer who was killed in a duel in 1837. Strongly recom- mended. 'It can be said positively that if Pushkin had not existed there would have been no talented writers who followed him.' (Dostoievsky.) Gladiators Michael Grant (Weidenfeld and Nicolson 21s). Dramatic new study of this supremely brutal institution of the ancient world by a well-known classicist. A book in a new series, 'Pageant of History,' edited by John Gross.
A Man of Good Abilities Tony Parker (Hutchinson 30s). Fascinating study of 'Norman Edwards,' aged sixty-five, a habitual 'white collar' recidivist. Mr Parker has an almost unique gift of presenting in human terms the problems of the habitual criminal—and of the society that makes him.
Wallace Stevens: Art of Uncertainty Her- bert J. Stern (Barrie and Rockliff 35s). A close study of the work of Stevens against the general American literary background. Useful for British readers in that Stevens's work is not so well known as some of his contem- poraries'.
The Letters of Ernest Dowsort edited by Desmond Flower and Henry Maas (Cassell £7 10s). Dowson's life was short and solitary, and he kept few papers. His collected letters are therefore a significant contribution to literary history; the editors have made as de- tailed a survey as possible.
The Lightning War W. Byford-Jones (Hale 30s). Eschewing the political background that has been dealt with in other lightning histories of the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967, Colonel. Byford-Jones gives a detailed, straightforward military history of the war. Should be useful as a reference book.
The Medium is the Massage (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press 42s), The Mechanical Bride (Routledge and Kegan Paul 45s), The Guten- berg Galaxy (Routledge Paperback 20s), Under- standing Media (Sphere Books lOs 6d), all by Marshall McLuhan. Professor McLuhan's work is discussed by Anthony Burgess on page 427.
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