By Oliver Baldwin
Mr. Baldwin has set forth his-views in the form of imaginary letters from an apparently eccentric man• living in a remote part of Algeria to. a debutante in England—on the facie of it, rather an unlikely pair of correspondents. The letters would be more -interesting if they consisted solely of Mr. Baldwin',, views on a variety of questions. As it is, his stimulating opinions on Christi- anity, the Et.B.C., Fascism, Communism, the Abyssinian War, economics, divorce, youth, contemporary political leaders and other subjects, are embedded in a less interesting narrative of life in Algeria and of the murder of an elderly
Frenchman. The most interesting chapter of this book (Grayson, fts.
is that in which Mr. Baldwin gives short sketches of the characters of some English politicians of today, devoting a few brilliant sentences to each. But his views are always inter- esting and the overstatement to which he is prone makes his writing more attractive. The following sentence is an eXample: "If he is both insensitive and insensate, it will not matter *hat profession he enters provided it is one where intelligence is at a discount as in the Army or Navy, or insensitive- ness is at a premium as in big business or in the fox- or stag-hunting field." It is interesting that Mr. Baldwin shares the opinion held by most Eng- lishmen until a few months ago that England is over-populated.
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