American History
America. By ilendrili Loon.' (Harr* 10s. 6d.) Commodore Vanderbilt. By Arthur D. Howden Smith. (Philip Allan. 21e.) To read Professor Van Loon's swift and rollicking book is like seeing American history from an aeroplane. It is " bumpy " flying ;- and besides, our pilot -has an unrestrained hand upon the -" joy stick," for now and then he does a "_ stunt P and shouts with laughter. Such an experience'is exhilarating for the passenger. But Mr. Van Loon is a sound pilot ; • he may seem often to be reckless and to want to--get us into trouble—in this -case into distorted judgments of history—. but the danger is not real. Behind his freakishness there -is the acumen and fair-mindedness of the true historical scholar. He may be relied upon to bring his passenger to the right landing place.
Of course an historian who wants to make history good fun right through can hardly keep to a constant level of humour. At his best the author gives -us plenty of genuine wit ; at his worst he falters in taste and can offer only a hollow witticism. We would say that this is a first-rate book for boys were it not that the author's allusiveness often requires a knowledge of history. For instance, where he is clearly referring • to the Papacy in one passage- he does not mention either Papacy or Pope. But-there are boys of all ages to whom we recommend this -jolly book. Their pleasure will be increased by the author's fanciful drawings. Is he not, however, a little too fanciful in the coloured picture which represents the rebels hauling down the flag ? The painting of the flag is rather impressionistic, but it seems to represent the present Union Jack, which was not introduced till 1801—so that the rebels could not have hauled down that flag. Even if the flag of 1801 could be justified it deserved to come down as it had been hoisted upside down ; with all due allowance for the impres- sionism, the narrow part of the white -fimbriation at the hoist is clearly on the wrong side of the-red Irish-saltire.
Mr. Van Loon makes excellent fun-of both the old and new worlds when-he describes the tremendous conscientiousness of European historians who lay bare the uttermost detail of the Middle Ages and overlook the fact that feudalism—according to -the author's intelligible distortion—is in full swing in America. Ethnical migration was the characteristic of the Middle -Ages in t Europe. Is any country more subject to migration than America ? Look at the the " new hordes of barbarians clamouring for admission into America to-day, Again, in Europe the Great War swept away the remnants of feudalism, but can anything be more feudalistic than Tammany Hail? As for the territorial rivalries of the dynasties, do we not see a violent reproduction of it in the wars of the American financiers who are fighting for concessions and monopolies in oil and grain and electricity ?
Mr. Van Loon gives on the whole an impartial account of the American Revolution, but falls into an .air pocket when he says that the pOlicy of GeOrge "coincided entirely with the prejudices of his subjects.' It certainly did not coincide entirely. The mention of the Boston " tea party " makes us wonder why so few American historians recall the other tea party at .Atmapolis. • The demonstration at Annapolis was no doubt a. smaller affair than the throwing of the tea-upon the waters of Boston' Harbour, but in some ways it was much bolder. The Annapolis demonstrators did not dress up as Indians but publicly announced what they were doing ' and accepted the responsibility in their own names. They com- pelled the owner of a brig who had paid the tax on his tea to fire his ship with his own hands, and all Annapnlis looked on till she was burnt to the water's edge. - -- One advantage of Mr. Van LOon's method is that it leaves him no -room for a sentimental self-deception. He does not call " Imperialism " by another name when he detects his country behaving as an Imperialistic Power—as in the Case, of the Mexican War. It was that war. which barbed the shafts of J. R. Lowell's satire " The Pious Editor's Creed." • Mr. Van-Loon's last chapter is in ..a different style from that of the rest of the book. He suddenly becomes intensely earnest when lie sums up. Here is n gust of idealism, a passionate yearning for the youth of America to be on the side of honour and peace, and a deep conviction that they have the ability and the courage to take their place there. It may be said that this chapter - is out of keeping with either wit or facetiousness. All the same we would not dispense with it.- It is a good landing Mr. Arthur D. Howden Smith has written an engaging biography of " Commodore " Vanderbilt, who fought his way up from poverty and founded the great fortunes of the Vander- bilt family. Vanderbilt (or Van Derbilt as he spelt it) seems to have owed more to his mother, Phebe Hand, than to the Dutch side of his descent. One of the most interesting things in the book is the description of Vanderbilt's enterprise in. Nicaragua during the gold rush of 1849 to California. By means of a chain of shallow-draught steamers and horse- drawn carts he conveyed thousands of pioneers across Nicaragua and -was able to compete successfully against the official route across Panama. Presumably the wonderful clipper ships of Massachusetts brought him most of his passengers. Probably within the next generation a new ship canal will- be cut along the line where Vanderbilt organized his service: He was a man of little education but of invincible determination. Such self-educated men often acquire a sense of style. Van- derbilt certainly did—witness the following letter :— " Gentlemen, You have undertaken to cheat me. I will not sue you bec,ause the law takes too -1(3w. I will ruin you.
Sincerely yours, Cornelius Van Derbilt."
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