Shorter Notices
The Germans and Ourselves. By Karl Barth. (Nisbet. 2s. 6d.)
THE eminent theologian here addresses his Swiss fellow countrymen on the problem of their future attitude to the Germans, but he does not end without some remarks on the proper attitude of the Swiss to themselves. The pamphlet was written before the conclusion of the war and, though on the whole the situation is not greatly different from that which Barth foresaw, in one way at least it has aspects which he did not anticipate. The division of Germany into zones, which is the decisive factor in the problem of its future, was not, it appears, among the possibilities contemplated by him. The book is infused with a truly Christian spirit and has value for us as well as for the neutral country for which it was written. it has been admirably translated by Dr. R. Gregor Smith with a touch of the Carlylesque which befits Barth's prophetic manner. The news that the author of this pamphlet is to return to Bonn lends additional interest to his utterances on the Germans.
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