ENGLAND SPEAKS AGAIN
Ordeal in England. By Sir Philip Gibbs. (Heinemann. 8s. 6d.)
A HABIT has grown up in recent years among well-known writers of going on a journalistic Grand Tour of this country and serving up their impressions as the authentic voice of England, or at least as the latest news from the Home Front. Sir Philip Gibbs, having written England Speaks in this vein, has now discovered that so many important events have occurred since then that there is need for a sequel. Ordeal in England has the merits of good journalism ; it is easy to read, breezily written, and right up to date. It is sure to be in great demand, especially among holiday-makers who want something a trifle more serious than fiction. It provides an interesting cross-section of English people's reactions to the points which have been stirring public opinion since the death of King George - V. It describes with considerable effect such high lights as the King's Funeral, the. -Abdication Crisis, and the Coronation, and shows the author- cross7L questioning Mr. Churchill, Lord Allen of Hurtwood, Professor Laski, and other less distinguished people on current affairs. It also contains an account of the Royal Commission on Arms, of which the author was one of the most wideawakc
This section, unlike most of the ,rest of. the. book,- narrates experiences peculiar to the author, and is therefore much the most interesting part. Sir Philip's conclusion on the Commission is , that it was " a tragedy—with a few comic interludes—tragic, because it dealt with the very instruments and powers of world tragedy, and the failure of civilisation that defends itself precariously by this competition in arma-
ments, and drifts steadily to the some We few had done our best to remedy somc of these evils and suggest a better way out of their consequences by control and limita- tion, but we had failed."
The book has little unity and has obviously been put together in a hurry, but .so -good a journalist as Sir Philip might have avoided using one or two horrid examples of journalese. London crowds may have a sense of the past, but is it necessary to describe them thus : " They are sensitive to old vibrations. The most ignorant get some thrill out of their heritage of history. They learn a bit of Shakespeare in the schools, and it's in their blood " ? And why should Sir Thomas Allen be described as ' One of the Wise Men of the West,' and Princess Margaret Rose as a rosebud from the springtime of Chaucer's England ' ?
But the chief criticism of Ordeal in England goes deeper than any question of style. Throughout the book runs a line of thought which is important because Sir Philip Gibbs repre- sents the point of view of many of his generation of Liberals, and, since he is -a distinguished journalist, his words will carry weight in other circles also. His solution.of the problem of how to secure peace is naive but frighteningly plausible, as put in the proposals of an American friend of his. There is no real menace in Hitler, of -whose desire for friendship Sir Philip is convinced. • So, " if - Germany and japan want to have a go at Russia, let any obstacles to their desires be cleared away." The first and principal one is the Franco-Soviet Pact and our inconvenient entente with France, the second the existence of Czechoslovakia, whose removal would so enrage " all the little intellectuals of the Left." - Once these awkward obstacles have been removed, he calmly looks forward to " a feud of some generations " between Germany and Russia, during which the Anglo-Saxon democracies sit back and enjoy the balance of power ! Can Sir Philip seriously hope to main- tain the peace and honour of that England which he so greatly admires by following a policy of such short-sighted hypocrisy
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