W ITH the deadly swiftness of action with which she has always opened her wars of aggression, Japan has struck hammer - blows west, east and south at many vital British and...

The war has to be judged as a whole. Events in the Far East must be measured side by side with the momentous campaigns which are being waged in Russia and North Africa and on...

One of the questions affected by Japan's entry into war is the attitude of Vichy. French Indo-China, and Camranh Bay and Saigon in particular, were the advanced bases for the...

Not the least important effect of Japan's action seems likely to be that on the internal psychology of the United States. If the Japanese had confined their initial blows to...

The tide of feeling has indeed effaced old obstacles. When war was declared by the United States on Germany in 1917, six senators and no fewer than 5o representatives, voted...

The Ministry of Labour has published some interesting figures comparing the results obtained by its census of earnings last July with those obtained by its similar census in...

The introduction of Mr. Bevin's Bill and the statements made by Ministers and others day by day have elucidated many points in regard to the Government's man-power proposals....

Speaking at Preston Mr. R. S. Hudson, the Minister of Agri- culture, reviewed in some detail the progress of war-time farming. Arable area should by the end of this season have...

T HIS week's news tells of lightning action on the part of Japan which has dealt grievous blows to the naval power of Great Britain and America. The sinking of ' Prince of...

think a kind of bland calm, that leaves all one's attention free for what is being said. The voice of Mr. Wilfred Pickles, the latest debutant among news announcers, seemed at...

of somersaulting just now. This is noticeable in the division of opinion about Defence Regulation 18B. Apart from a few true- blue Liberals, who, to their honour, run true to...

at last, and the lovely Californian coast has become a defended area. What playgrounds and what peace are left? ROSE MACAULAY.

women for national service. An adequate men's army cannot be raised without conscription, as was proved in the last war, so why expect that a women's can? A certain amount of...

public eye is an entertaining study. Looking through the Official Report of the Debate on the Address the other day, my eye was caught by a paragraph quoted by a speaker: " I...

W HAT an explosive word "family " seems to be! Perhaps naturally, since families are apt to be fairly explosive things. But to denigrate the family relationship in public, as...

JAPAN STRIKES By STRATEG ICUS T HE news that Japan had attacked. Pearl Harbour, the impor- tant naval station of the United States in Hawaii, took the world by surprise; but...

By A. WILSON T HE Japanese were fortunate in coming into serious contact with China of the T'ang dynasty, when, in the opinion of many, Chinese civilisation was at its richest...

By S. S. HAMMERSLEY, M.P. I NNUMERABLE public speeches and countless leading articles emphasise our overwhelming need for increased production to win the war. Yet all in close...

By H. E. HAIG-BROWN T N the course of a recent debate on religious education in the I House of Commons reference was made by many speakers to the Surrey Agreed Syllabus. The...

WINTER strikes suddenly, strikes deep into the neutral territory of autumn, thrusting its armoured columns of hail down the valleys, and throwing its curtain of grey drifting...

By PHILIP HEWITT-MYRING T HE charwoman who intermittently obliged at the draughty little bungalow on the East Coast into which the war had pitchforked the Major and his young...

sharp attention to the political ineptitude of the Japanese move. It may be true that by springing this strategic surprise upon the United States the Japanese have been able to...

is less easy to explain. I should imagine myself that the instinctive liking which the ordinary Briton feels for the China- man or the Turk is based upon a common confidence in...

By HAROLD NICOLSON T HE Prime Minister, among his many virtues, possesses that gracious gift which was known in the last century as " a sense of occasion." As he walked through...

tradition exist between the inhabitants of his four corner- stones, between the peoples of America, Russia, Great Britain and China. He knows, for instance, that the Daughters...

a moment from the doubts and dangers of our present turmoil and to consider the effect of the Japanese outrage upon the Grand Alliance. I should wish for this purpose to...

THE THEATRE The Man Who Came to Dinner." At the Savoy Theatre. Tills is a play about pseudo-celebrities—those unreal celebrities of the contemporary world forced by blatant...

HALF masonry, half pain ; her head From which the plaster breaks away Like flesh from the rough bone, is turned Upon a neck of stones ; her eyes Are lidless windows of smashed...

" Shors." At the Tatler.—" Suspicion." At the Odeon. " March of Time." At the Gaumont. Shors is a disappointment. It was made by Dovzhenko, who many years ago directed Earth,...

BRITAIN AND JAPAN Snt,—I studied during my spare time in recent weeks the history of the relations between Japan and Britain. The turning-point in this history is the...

Sia,—I have been watching with interest for some comment, official or otherwise, on the broadcast made after the one o'clock news on Sunday, November 9th, by a marine who was...

S1R,—While I find myself in complete agreement with the Master of Balliol in his appeal for a physical as well as mental content for our educational syllabus, I am somewhat...

Snt,—Since Mr. Robert Hervey is not to be convinced by figures, it is rather uncharitable of him to question the source of those which I quoted. The extracts from the index of...

Sta,—Miss Archibald's article " Greek for Girls," in The Spectator of October 3rst, led naturally to a valuable correspondence, and two suggestions have emerged: Mr. Woodhouse...

the place of Latin as the first classical language to be learned, I have followed with interest the correspondence in your columns on this subject. To the excellent arguments...

Sta,—May I refer briefly to the paragraph headed " High Wages and Juvenile Crime " under " News of the Week " in The Spectator of November 28th? It is there stated that...

tests, skill to work out specific plans, and service to the community. Here was all-round thinking-and-doing, judgement and initiative in a fourfold achievement. But a sound...

Those who have risked the sowing of broad beans have the pleasure —rare in December—of seeing the green points pricking the soil. These will have a better chance of surviving...

their sawdust therefore contains a high percentage of sap or moisture. This would naturally affect fruit deleteriously, if stored in it.—Yours [This correspondence is now...

Some learned information has been sent to me on the appearance of " Cats' brains " in place names ; but no one has even suggested the reason for the name. " Have cats peculiarly...

SIR,—I frequently get appreciative comment on Spectator articles from the friends in New York to whom I have been sending it for the past two years. The latest one might, I...

When we see a blue smoke coming out of a chimney we only know that the householder is burning wood. Woods, of course, differ, and there are some charming verses and sayings that...

atten- tion in your issue of November 21st to the mysterious ways of the Treasury. I can contribute another example from my own experience. Obedient to the law I surrendered two...

Preserving England In spite of war the Council for the Preservation of Rural England has been busy, and partly because of war has in some sort enlarged its ideals. The beauty...

In spite of war the coming Christmas promises to be at least as well-decorated as its predecessors. The collectors of holly berries have been abroad rather earlier than their...

Sia,—A short while ago I was asked by my Commanding Officer to record on paper any suggestions I had in mind as befitting the task of Welfare Officer (Army). Candidly I was...

The Mature Byron Byron in Italy. By Peter Quennell. (Collins. ras. 6d.) PERHAPS the heading of this article is misleading, for it is possible to argue that Byron was never...

UNTIL the appearance of this book there have been only two or three anthologies of contemporary Chinese writing in English. For a literature that has been practically ignored...

The Republic of Plato. Translated with Introduction and Notes by F. M. Cornford. (Clarendon Press. 7s. 6d.) WHAT is the greatest secular prose book in European literature? It...

Richard II. By Anthony Steel. (Cambridge University Press. v5s.) Mum learning has been lavished in recent years upon the reign, and especially upon the fall, of King Richard...

(Gollancz. 12S. 6d.) THIS book does not claim to be original psychology. It is an attempt, based on the theory of Freud, to show women that the anxiety which makes them unhappy...

MUCH of the complexity of Spanish character is expressed in Ramon Sender's new novel of simple life. Its design has that obviousness, even absurdity, which has been used with...

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[A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked with...

By CUSTOS MARKETS are standing up to the war news just as well as any- body would reasonably expect. Many of the City's most stubborn optimists are already arguing that...

Low's War Cartoons. (Cresset Press. 6s.) Low is without question the finest cartoonist of our time. He is an intelligent political and diplomatic correspondent and at his best...